THE DAY I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU
by bimba603
Summary: Fated to love, destined to separate. Usui takumi, the current president of The Walkers Company as well as a well established practitioner and Ayuzawa Misaki, a successful lawyer, have drifted apart in the last six years. But nothing has changed their feelings, love, trust and confidence in each other, well except for themselves. Will they find their key to happiness at the doorstep
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAKUMI

THE DAY I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU

Fated to love, destined to separate. Usui Takumi, the current president of The Walkers Company as well as a well established practitioner and Ayuzawa Misaki, a successful lawyer, have drifted apart in the last six years. But nothing has changed their feelings, love, trust and confidence in each other, well except for themselves. Will they find their key to happiness at the doorstep of each other's heart?

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DISCLAIMER: Apart from the OCs and the plot of the story, I don't own anything. Kaichou wa maid sama solely belongs to Hiro Fujiwara.

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#1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAKUMI

 _Sometimes I just wish you were here,_

 _so I could tell you how much I need you_

 _and how hard every day has been without you._

 _I am sorry._

 _-Love._

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 ** _MISAKI'S P.O.V_**

This was all I could write. I wanted to write more, but my thoughts wouldn't flow into words. If anything, but tears, tears that would swell up and threaten to fall down, washing down the hard facade I had learnt to put up in the last six years. Out of frustration, I shut my diary back for the nth time today, not knowing what else to write. Blinking back my tears, I pushed myself out of the chair and flexed my fingers, which seemed to snap out any minute due to all the typing and paperwork I had done for the day. Walking over to the window, I rubbed my temples and looked out at the golden light that swept across the city of skyscrapers, The New York city.

 _I need some air to compose myself..._

I picked up four not-so-light looking files and headed over to a larger desk. The lady behind this desk looked up at me when I crowded her desk with the files that I carried.

"Pass this on to Brad please", I said to her, as she stared at me in awe of the display of my super-human strength.

"Sure thing", Angela said, and smiled back at me.

"I'll be at the balcony" I said to her as I turned and started to walk towards a coffee counter.

Light breeze was blowing. I sipped my coffee as I watched the sun set behind a tall skyscraper. I brought out my chain which held a light heart-shaped pendant at its end. I brushed my thumb across those engraved letters, for a millionth time today...

 _Forever yours, - U.T._

Tears ran down my cheeks naturally, unable to keep them at bay any longer. I opened the pendant only to see a picture of myself blushing and _him_ smiling. The coffee started to grow cold in my hands, as I stared at his smiling face and then looked at the sun.

"Eva..."

' _Happy birthday Takumi. Please forgive me...'_ I whispered in the air as I pinned my wishes to the setting sun, hoping that it would be delivered to _him_ , when it would rise in the other part of the world.

"Eva..."

"EVELYN!"

I snapped back to reality as I heard my adopted name being screamed out in the background. I quickly brush away my tears with the back of my hand before I turn to face the person who had called out my name with an ear splitting intensity.

"Angela" I said, as I inhaled to steady my voice.

"What have you been doing? I have been calling you, are you alright?" she asked, her voice laced with a tinge of worry.

 _Stupid me_ , I thought, _didn't you just need another person to worry about you now?_

"I-I'm alright, I was just carried away by the sunset" I said as I waved toward the direction of the setting sun.

"Oh...ah! Yes, Brad is expecting you in his office." She said as I watched her retreating figure disappear behind the rotating glass doors.

I gulp down the remaining coffee and make my way to my boss' cubicle. I knock twice before I hear a 'come in'. I quickly enter only to see a man in his thirties looking through all the files I had submitted, and at the same time motioning his hand telling me to have a seat.

"Impressive work, Ms. Ross. As expected from a student of the Brooklyn University. ", he said, lifting his spectacles from his nose.

"I'm glad", I replied, too worn out to even take the pleasure of his praise.

"Since you have completed your task one day before your teammates," he said, while closing the file, "I suggest that you slack off for a day. Give your fingers a break, Ms. Ross. Besides, you might want to give your attention to a certain someone, since I assume you worked overtime to get these files completed." He said, while pointing his index finger at a metallic band that clung to my ring finger.

 _That is exactly why I don't want to take a day off._

Unable to argue any further, I firmly shake his hand and leave his office briskly. I wave a goodbye to Angela, Brad's P.A., and a few other colleagues before I swipe my ID to exit.

"Good day to you, Ms. Ross", I heard the receptionist say while I gave her back one of my business smiles.

 _How I wish I could._

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A/N: There it goes...the first chapter of my first maid sama fanfic. i hope you liked it. just to be a little on the clearer side, Misaki is practising law in New York under the name Ms. Evalyn Ross. for those who might find it a bit confusing, there is more to be revealed in upcoming chapters...so stay tuned.

please review. Each and Every review is valuable to me.

until next time,

BIMBA.


	2. BECAUSE I LOVE YOU

**A/N:** all those people who read my story, I'm humbled. And all those people who took efforts to write me a review, it made my day! Thank you guys, I hope you keep supporting me throughout...

I hope the chapter waS worth your wait. Oh yeah! How did I forget? HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAKUMI...

ON WITH THE STORY...

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Disclaimer: yeah, the same...

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 **#2**

 **BECAUSE I LOVE YOU**

 _You are near,_

 _Even if I don't see you._

 _You are with me,_

 _Even if you are far away._

 _You are in my heart,_

 _In my thoughts,_

 _In my life,_

 _Always._

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 _ **MISAKI'S P.O.V.**_

I'm unsurprisingly early to my home; all thanks to my boss, for it is rare for me to enter my house before 10 pm. I absent-mindedly ring the doorbell, when it struck me that no one would be in the house at this time of the hour. I put my hand into my bag to search for the key that was rarely used by me, only to find it partially hidden behind an envelope.

 _An envelope...?_

I unlock the door and step into the house, only to be greeted by eerie darkness. Had I been the same Misaki who everybody had known to be all brave and fearless, I would have been frightened to death. But I'm Evalyn, no longer Misaki. This darkness of the ill-lit room was nothing compared to the one that clouded my life. As I flicked on some lights I remembered that envelope. I reach out to my bag and pull out the envelope, only to remember what that envelope was about.

 _2 Ux-Mishi concert tickets..._

I crashed on the couch while holding on to those tickets. I had brought those 3 days back for _us,_ for _his birthday._ Although I knew it was futile to buy a gift for _him_ , like I did in the last 5 years, for _his birthday_ , I couldn't stop myself from buying _him_ a gift. These concert tickets were special to me in their own way.

 _It was at the Ux-Mishi concert that Sakura had dragged me into, that I realised for the first time that I harboured feelings for him. It was here that I realised how much he loved me, it was the day I realised that I had fallen for him._

Tears made their way down my cheeks, flowing unconstrained, as there was no need to hide them anymore. All those blissful memories of the past that I had locked away in a corner of my heart are painfully unleashed in front of me. The whole day I kept running from these memories, drowning myself in my work. But now I had no work to do, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from the assault of those memorable moments I had shared with _him_ , which made my heart vulnerable every time I replayed those moments.

I look out of the window, which spanned the entire length from the floor to the ceiling, with a weak attempt to distract myself. Overlooking the window, was the view of the New York City, which sprung to life as the night set in. Billions of light bedecked the city, which glinted off the billboards and illuminated the glossy surfaces of the buildings. It is a breathtaking view, no doubt, but I refused to claim it as beautiful. And I knew why.

The view of Tokyo city at night was nowhere near to the one that the New York City offered. But to me the view of the Tokyo city from the window of _his apartment_ looked far more beautiful than the one that I was seeing now.

 _It was because of him. It was always him. His every touch, every embrace held his warmth and spoke love. His presence brought light to my life, and his mere actions made my heart flutter and made my cheeks turn red. Without him, the light and fire of my life, I'm left in complete darkness and coldness, leaving me utterly lost and lonely in this world._

My mind went back to _his birthday_ which we had last celebrated together.

 _I laughed with him, as we recollected all those awkward yet funny moments of the high school, that I along with our schoolmates had photographed and gifted him as a scrapbook on his birthday. We laughed and laughed, not caring a damn about the world, until our stomachs hurt and tears overflowed. It was only when we calmed down that Usui pulled me out of the couch into a loose embrace._

" _Thank you, Misaki. This is the best birthday I ever had."_

" _Hmmm...I'm glad that I put that expensive digital camera you gifted me on my birthday to some good use."_

" _Then I'm happy that I decided to gift you that camera, or else my Misa-chan wouldn't have thought about me so much..."_

" _Who told you that I think only about you all day?" I said as I smacked him on his head._

" _Hmmm...is that so?"He asked, a small, devilish grin appearing on his face._

" _W-What are you doing, baka Usui?" I asked as he covered my eyes._

" _Ne Misa-chan, getting impatient are we? Unless you want me to do anything perver..."_

" _S-Shut up. I hate you. I don't even understand why I agreed to sleep over tonight..."_

" _I get it, I get it. Ayuzawa loves me so much, that you couldn't turn down my offer. I have often been told that I'm irresistible." He said as he chuckled._

" _One more perverted word from your mouth and I'm walking out of your house the next instant."_

" _Shhhh...look Misa-chan..."_

 _He uncovers my eyes as I behold the beautiful sight of the Tokyo city illuminated in the night. My fingers naturally intertwine with his, as I secure the warmth of his hands in mine._

" _I thought I would show you this, since you never stay up in my flat this late."_

" _Its beautiful, Takumi."_

" _It was till now. Not anymore." His other hand found its way naturally to encircle my waist from behind as he brought me closer to him._

" _What are you saying, baka..." I gasped as I was cut off mid sentence by a kiss at the crook of my neck._

 _He whirled me around to face him, not letting me escape his tight embrace. "You are the one who is the most beautiful here."_

 _I gawked at him at his sudden confession and blushed. He only smiled and brought his face closer to me until I could feel his breath on my lips._

" _Misaki, I love you. Do you love me?"_

 _I looked up only to see a pair of sincere emeralds staring at me expectantly, waiting for my answer._

" _I love you too, Takumi."_

 _And he sealed the words by pressing his lips on mine, as our fingers intertwined and our hearts synchronised harmoniously._

" _I hate you." I mumbled as I blushed and hid my face in his chest, as we broke apart our kiss, gasping for air._

" _I love you too, Ayuzawa." he said as we turned our heads to see the city spring to life at night, unaware of the impending danger looming over our heads._

I woke up with a start, my eyes adjusting to the lights in the room. Although it had been five years back, I still feel like it was just yesterday that all this happened. A sad smile crept on my lips, as my mind replayed his words again and again.

" _Misaki, I love you. Do you love me?"_

" _I love you too, Takumi."_

I looked at the wall clock. _**8.30 pm**_. I wouldn't be alone for much longer now, thank God for that, as my family would barge into the house any moment now. I drag myself to the room to freshen up as I didn't want them to see me in my grief-stricken state, let alone get scolded for making a mess of myself. When we left our homes, our past and came to New York to start a new life, little had I known that we would get along with each other, I mean, as a family. I reach out to take a framed photograph of my immediate family, which was taken during one of our recent outings. I couldn't help but smile at the picture, for no outsider could have told that we are not related, by blood.

There was Hinata, with one arm around Suzuna, and his other hand holding mine, while Aoi stuck his face between mine and Hinata's, with his hands thrown over mine and Hinata's shoulder. It was spring time; an Aoi wouldn't stop clicking photos till the cameras battery had drained off. I laugh, as I still remember how Aoi and Suzu were shouting and running behind Hinata for having eaten almost four people's lunch. Hinata had been a great friend to me and strong support to Suzuna, ever since that incident that changed our lives. Hinata loved Suzu, and I'm glad that he had been here to stand by her side, when she needed him the most. Aoi, was almost like a younger brother to me, I don't know what I would have done if it weren't for him. He was here, to make me smile and make me see the brighter side of my problems. He was the one who constantly pushed me forward, telling me to give my best, motivating me to push my past behind and move ahead. If it weren't for my family, I don't know what I and Suzu would have done in our lives without them, for all I knew was that I would have still been rotting away somewhere...

I remove my black cat eyed 'fashionable' spectacles and my contacts, which made my amber eyes look a shade darker, before I washed my face to remove my makeup. And I do that one mistake of looking into the mirror, when I see that one person who I wanted to avoid for the rest of my existence. Water dripping from her face in the mirror, washing away the last traces of her disguise, staring at me was no longer Evelyn Ross, but it was the deep ambers of Ayuzawa Misaki. I stare into her eyes, which were only desperately searching for one thing.

 _A pair of emeralds, that pair which belonged to a certain blonde who I loved._

I gasp and back away from the basin, not wanting to shatter the mirror, but was unable to escape the spell of her stare. Unknowingly, I look into the eyes of the person facing me in the mirror, only to see a myriad of emotions hidden in them. Anger, pain, frustration, loneliness, fear and guilt. But the eyes portrayed a darker shade of one more emotion.

 _Betrayal._

" _ **You would stand by me, wouldn't you?" his voice still echoed in my ears**_ _._

That was one promise I couldn't keep. That was one promise that I broke, which in turn broke me. Shattered my heart into unaccountable pieces. Because even when I was given a choice, I did not have much choice. And I was forced to choose against him, unwillingly.

I only hid my face in my hands, cursing my fate. It was an endless battle, wallowing between guilt and self-pity. I knew it. I, no- we had always known that a point of time would come where we would have to part with each other, and he would have to return to England. We had also known that we might not be able to communicate since his family never supported our relation. But we had promised to each other, before we parted ways that we would wait for the other. That we would still love each other. That was what should have happened. But it didn't.

 _And what hurts me more, is that I'm the one who broke that promise first._

 _ **XOXOXOX**_

 _ **USUI'S POV**_

 **President's Office, Walkers Healthcare And Co, England.**

I sign the file, stamp the paper with the company's seal and shove the file away. My dinner is untouched but piles of work yet remain to be sorted out and get approved. Ignoring my stomach and the pain in my shoulders, which had almost become permanent now, I start picking up the next set of files. Approving organ donations, setting up blood donation camps, updating the medical textbooks in the library and what not. All these files needed my approval and as the director of the Walkers Healthcare & Co. I had to see that things went smoothly. I read through the file I'm currently holding, but before I reach halfway – I drop it on the desk, tired of the monotonous work. I kick off my shoes before my body and melt into the recliner, placed at the far end of the office. But before I could close my eyes and nap off, I heard a sharp tap on the door.

 _ **Now what?**_

"Come in", I said, wishing to be left alone in peace for some time.

"Sorry to disturb you Takumi, but you have got a call to attend..."Ron said as he held out the phone for me to speak.

 _ **Who the hell would call me at 10 pm in the night?**_

"It is from your home, sir." my P.A. replied, disgust evident in his tone.

 _ **Home? I never had any. And if it did it would be here, my office.**_

"Master Takumi."

"Yes Cedric, what was so important that you called me at this hour of the day?"I asked, least interested in whatever he was going to say.

"It has been 4 months since you have visited home"

"Yeah, so?"

"It is your birthday tomorrow. The old Duke orders your presence in the mansion. Also a party is being held tomorrow in your honour."

"I'm not interested in any party, and I have got work to take care of. So just-"

"I believe you do not have a choice sir."

 _ **I never did have a choice, did I?**_

I slam the phone down, hard, irritated with my own life. _**Those bastards...,**_

"Ok, so I guess I will cancel all the meetings scheduled tomorrow,...right?" Ron asked.

"I don't want to go there." I said, sulkily.

"But I think you should go. You can lock yourself up in the room than entertain the paparazzi and crazy fan girls." he said while trying hard not to smile.

 _The mansion definitely seemed a better bet, right now._

I enter the limo, and as I stretch myself out, I remove an old photograph from my coat pocket. A wave of calm washes over me when I see the picture, a beautiful fragment of my past, and I couldn't help but smile.

It was the first picture, I had taken with _her_. _She_ was dressed in _her_ maid uniform, trying hard not to blush and trying harder to look at the camera and smile.

 _ **She is My lucky charm. My Misaki.**_

Few minutes later, I find myself in my room, doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. Quite a dangerous thing to do, which is-to do nothing. I look around the room. This room, I hated it with all my heart. It was here where I had spent my miserable childhood locked away from the world. It was here where I had retreated to when everyone told me that I was not wanted, that I was nothing but a mistake. Although a _certain someone_ had proved me wrong, it was all over when I got a call from _her_ , and heard _her_ say those words which I never thought I would hear from _her_ , of all people.

 _And I was right here, in this room, when I heard the last from her._

Beautiful memories of the past danced in front of my eyes, which painfully twisted my heart and burnt a hole in my soul. Although I heard _her_ say those words, I could never bring it upon myself to believe _her_. I drifted off to sleep, with _her_ adorable face in mind, but not before long, I was hunted down by my own nightmares.

 _It was evening and it was pretty cold. Shuffling away the papers on the desk was a blonde who was very much distracted._

 _I pulled out a heart shaped locket, and smiled to myself. It had an inscription on it, which read-_

 _ **My heart beats only for you, love. - M.A.**_

 _I opened the locket to look at the photo that kept my Misaki secure for me. I had gifted her a similar one, before I departed from Japan. It had been four months now, since I left Japan, since I communicated with her through any form. All my calls were tracked and emails monitored, and I didn't want to take the risk of putting her life in danger. I only stared at her cute face, wondering what she might be doing now..._

 _ **God, I miss her so much already...**_

 _As I stared at her more, I wondered if she missed me as much as I miss her. She would rather send me off flying to my alien planet, which she claims it to be my home, than admit that she misses me._

 _She is so cute and adorable...If it were possible for me to meet her now then I would have held her in a tight embrace and never let go of her and kiss her till she was completely breathless and..._

 _My thoughts are unwillingly interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Irritated, I answer the call._

" _Usui Walker. How may I help you?"_

 _I hear some muffled noises on the other end._

" _Hello, is anyone there?" I ask once again._

 _ **No answer.**_

 _When I was about to keep the receiver down, that was when I heard someone speak._

" _USUIIII!"_

 _I don't need to know rocket-science to know who was speaking._

" _Hello-Misaki, are you alright?" I asked, worried._

 _ **How did she get my number? Not many people know my number...and why did she scream my name? Is she okay...?**_

" _Usui", she said- her voice strained and breathing uneven._

 _Okay, 'worried' was a blatant understatement. But before I got a word out of my mouth, I heard her speak._

" _I hate you."_

 _My heart skipped a beat. It was all so jumbled up that I thought I didn't hear her properly._

 _"Misa-"_

" _Usui- I hate you. Ok? I hate you with all my heart and I don't ever want to see you again. Never ever in my life. I hate you, I hate YOU, I HATE YOU..." I could hear her voice as if it were about to break._

 _The phone still in my ears, I wonder if I'm dreaming? Her words are still ringing in my ears, my brain unable to register those words..._

 _ **I hate you, I hate YOU, I HATE YOU...**_

 _ **And yet I could only find her love for me in those words**_

 _ **The receiver still glued to my ear, the click of a gun didn't miss my ear...**_

 _ **MISAKI!**_

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 **A/N: SOOO...how did you like it? I was going to make it an all Misaki chapter, but it would get boring, so I pulled Takumi too in the picture...**

 **Constructive criticism and suggestions are warmly welcome.**

 **Please review and let me know your thoughts.**

 **Thanking you,**

 **Yours truly,**

 **BIMBA.**


	3. ONE MORE DAY WITHOUT YOU-

**(26/07/16) A/N:** i am re-uploading this chapter because of some problem with the site, this chapter was not opening.

the next chapter is in progress, expect an update soon. also, i have edited the chapters to remove mistakes, and edited the story slightly.

Without further delay, I'll meet you guys at the end of the story.

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DISCLAIMER: OC, plot – mine. Creation of characters- H.F. Takumi and Misaki- ours!

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 **#3**

 **ONE MORE DAY...WITHOUT YOU-**

 _It hurts so much_

 _Not to have you by my side_

 _Not to be around you_

 _Not to be with you._

 _I wish..._

 _I wish I could go back to the day I met you,_

 _The day I fell in love with you._

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 **USUI'S POV**

My eyes flew open, my forehead beaded with sweat and my heart still pounding in my ears. I clench my hair and shake my head, desperately trying to come out of my nightmare, which is almost but a daily occurrence, ever since I last heard from _her_. I gulp down and almost empty my jug of water before I turn to glance at the clock. _**3.30 am?**_ I sighed and lay down on my bed again. I couldn't help but think about her and out of habit; I tightened my hold on the locket. Although I never wanted to believe what _she_ had told me five years back, I knew something was amiss. Something had happened to _her_... but I couldn't figure out what. Or more importantly, why? _She_ had done no harm to anyone...then ...- I couldn't just figure out anything out of the mess.

 _She was always there for me, and always scolding me, when I would refuse other girls back when we were still in high school. How her eyes would go wide when I held her hand or hugged her in public while she would hit him, shouting "perverted outer space alien". Or how her demonic aura transformed into beautiful blush that tainted her cheeks when I surprise kissed her._ _And she would always respond by turning her head away from him, trying in vain to hide her blush, and tell me,' I hate you', although I could see that her eyes told otherwise._

Frustrated, I drag myself to the window overlooking the garden. A smile naturally crept to my face as I remembered how surprised I was, when I saw _her_ hanging from a helicopter, _she_ had come all the way from Japan to England, dressed in a maid attire to ' _rescue_ ' me. I shivered as a cold breeze blew, bringing me back from my beautiful past to the harsh and cold present. Not bothering to close the windows, I start pacing back and forth the room, trying to crack the mystery behind _her_ sudden hatred for me and _her_ flash disappearance.

I was too stunned by the turn of events, as I recall now, that it had taken me more than a day to register the words _she_ had told me. I didn't believe her then-when _she_ told me that- and till today, I could never bring it upon myself to believe _her_. I know her too well, and as much truth _she_ had desperately tried to put into her words- only ended up hiding up a bigger truth. _Her_ voice, it was so unrealistic, it was as if _she_ was forced to tell me 'I hate you'. And another question bugged me ever since _, how did she get my office number?_ As far as I had known, Gerald had kept my existence known to just a minimal number of people, for he hated to acknowledge my presence. Very few people knew my contact number back then, and none of them knew about my high-school girlfriend. Although there was a chance of _her_ being blackmailed, which again sounded out-of-context considering it was _my Misaki_ who we are talking about, but who would want to blackmail _her_ and why?

 _Could it be Gerald...? Tora...? Richard...?_

Anger pulsed through my veins; as I never got a chance to find out. I had begged with Gerald, traded my soul with Richard, to allow me to visit Japan, but all my pleas fell on their deaf ears. I had not disclosed my reason to go to Japan but somehow they had figured out that the reason had to be _her_ , increasing my suspicion against them even more, all the more increasing the security around me, and making it impossible to escape their supervision.

 _Forget her boy, for she is not worth all your attention._

That's what Richard had said when I slammed the door on his face, after he denied my visit to Japan, saying there is no business for a Walker there. I wanted to bite his head off that moment itself, but with great control I had held myself back then.

 _Ridiculous. Forget her? - It was out of question. How could I forget that one person who taught me to smile and love? I could not forget the person who means a life to me nor would I forget the people who were hell bent on destroying mine and hers peaceful life._

I open my wardrobe and punch a four digit code and a quick scan of my thumb finger to access my personal locker. After tugging the door a little, which had gone passive due to its lack of use, finally gave way to my treasure, which I guarded with all my life, against my bittersweet enemies. No, it was not hoards of cash that he had earned in the last few years, nor was it a century old necklace of an unknown queen which his good-for-nothing brother had bought in an auction. But behind the piles of useless paper lay hidden in his personal locker was memories. Peaceful memories. Memories of _her_ , memories of that life which I had once believed to be impossible. Memories of that part of my life, which felt eons ago to me, when I had actually fallen in love, when actually someone fell in love with me, my personality, and not my name, fame, property or money.

Shoving those files away, I bring out my treasures. The first thing I grab is the muffler. Not an exquisite tailored piece or a branded one costing unbelievable Euros, but definitely the one speaking love, a language not understood by people who speak money. It is soft, knotty at places, some loose strands threatening to fall off at the edges, and a shade lighter than I originally remember it as.

 _The muffler...it was just like her..._

I still remember _her face_ , a shade of deep red, as _she_ wrapped _her gift_ around my neck before confessing- although _she_ was yelling more and confessing less- that _she_ liked me.

" _Do you like it?" she asked, her eyes gleaming, almost moist._

 _I stood like an idiot, standing true to the nickname my girlfriend had named me, too shocked to even respond properly. I felt something warm against my neck, a texture which I could tell from all the worldly experience that I had gained, was wool. Removing that piece of cloth from my neck to examine it, I saw what it was. It was a woollen cloth, red in colour, the perfect colour of a merry Christmas. It was...it was...-_

 _ **A muffler. A handmade muffler.**_

 _I was left speechless. That explains why she would not hold my hands, or how that can of juice slipped from the hands of an-ever-careful person. I had no words to describe my ecstasy on seeing her masterpiece, her gift and her love for me. I did expect a gift from her, since she being an Ayuzawa, wouldn't back down without giving me a gift in return. I did not know what I expected from her, but this was something different altogether. It was so...-girlish, so very unlike her. But again, it was so very much like Ayuzawa – she never failed to surprise me._

" _I know it was a bad idea to gift you a muffler. You must be having many others which are better than this...I am sorry that I couldn't get you a better gift..." she said, her voice laced with regret._

 _Wrapping my new muffler around my neck, I pulled Misaki towards me, gently tilting her head towards me and brushing off the tears which had rolled down her cheeks, despite the control she exercised over her tears._

" _no Ayuzawa, I don't like it," she opened her eyes to stare at me when I paused," I love it. It is the best gift I have, till date, received as my Christmas present, but" I removed her glove from her right hand and traced those blue-black lines across her palm and her fingers when she flinched as I hit her sore spots, "that does not mean that you are allowed to be reckless and hurt yourself like this."_

 _She blushed, her face in a shade of red which I love." I-I was not being reckless...I j-just wanted to gift you this..." she said, her eyes not meeting mine._

 _I lift her exposed palm and gently kiss a sore spot, which catches her attention, "but Ayuzawa, why did you do this, why did you go to the extent of hurting yourself over a small gift like this, that too for me?"_

" _That's because...that's because I-I wanted to give you a gift for Christmas...that's it."_

" _Is that so, Ayuzawa?" I asked sceptically," well then thank you. It is indeed beautiful." I said and started to walk away, after I pecked her lightly on the cheeks. But before I could take the turn to exit the street, I heard her yell,_

" _TAKUMIII..."_

 _But before I could respond, she slammed into me with full force, pushing me into the wall._

" _What..."_

 _The words never left my mouth, as she fisted my hair in her hands and pulled me towards her and pressed her lips on mine, with full force and passion. As much as I was shocked, I responded back to her kiss by pulling her up by the waist and passionately kissing her back. And when we both broke apart for air, I heard her say those golden words..._

" _I did it for you Takumi...because...b-because I like you." She said fervently, still trying to balance between confessing and breathing. No sooner did I hear her say those words than I pulled her up to kiss her once more on the lips, leaving her in a trance when I ended it shortly._

" _I know," I said" I like you too, Misaki." I walk towards her until she is caged between me and the wall, and close the distance by pressing my body against her._

" _What are you trying to do baka..." she said, blushing intensely while her attempts to push me away keep decreasing._

" _Say, Ayuzawa," I ask, while peppering the crook of her neck with kisses, "will you be my girlfriend?"_

" _Yes, I will." And as soon as I heard those words I kissed her full on her lips, not letting her catch her breath even for a moment._

" _You are so sly Ayuzawa..."_

 _I turned to walk away towards my home, unwillingly, but I turned behind to see her once more, I saw her standing in a daze after my expertise kissing, with an index finger over her slightly swollen lips._

" _If you are expecting more then we might need a room, you know..."_

 _That seemed to snap her out of her la-la land._

" _Go die, you perverted alien!" she yelled after me, as I started on my heels away from her._

 _Hmmm...That's my Misaki._

I had wrapped the muffler around me, effectively protecting myself from the cold wind. Pushing back memories that flashed across me as I pulled out the other articles from my locker, I couldn't help but stare at the thing which weighed heavy against both my hand and my heart.

 _The scrapbook of photos. My birthday that I had last celebrated with Misaki by my side._

Events of the past came rushing to my mind. I held my head in my hands; I did not want to think about it now, for I would be so lost in the sea of memories that it would become difficult for me to walk out of the memories all the more. And the last thing I wanted was to let Gerald and Richard know that I still think about _her_ , that I still care for _her_ , that I still love _her_. Those bastards were the hell of my life; I did not want them to come near _her_ even in my thoughts. Unknowingly, I flip the scrapbook till I reach the last page, where I found a photo of _her, her ambers_ boring holes into me and a devious smile plastered on _her face. Her amber eyes_ , always so deep and thoughtful, seemed to have held a lot of questions for me. _It was as if she asked me_ ,

 _ **Why? Why did you leave me alone? Why did you have to go? Why did you not come back for me? Do you even remember me? Do you still love me?**_

I snapped the book close, unable to defend myself against the assault of my own unanswered questions. I start putting those articles back into the locker when a few papers started blowing away randomly due to the cold wind which blew across the room. I collect those papers, and regret instantly as I turn over the forgotten papers to read its contents.

 **CERTIFICATE OF DEATH**

 _ **THIS IS TO CERTIFY THE DEATH OF MISS AYUZAWA MISAKI...**_

I didn't notice the papers slip from my fingers, for dread returned to my heart. As much as Gerald had restrained me from contacting anyone, I had managed to secretly contact Satsuki-san to find about _Misaki_ and _her_ whereabouts. She had informed me that _Minako-san_ and _Sakuya-san_ had died in an accident two months after my departure. And that after the day _Misaki_ had called me, _she_ was nowhere to be found, and that _she_ hadn't turned up at the cafe either for work. So was her sister _Suzuna_ , who was also missing along with _Misaki_. And after trying to search _her_ using limited contacts, I had found these papers in the Japanese Government's records. I sat at the end of bed, clutching the muffler around me tightly, as if my life depended on it. I didn't believe that piece of shit even if the whole world spoke against me, although everything made sense to the world, but not to me.

 _Everything seemed to make sense, didn't it? The way she spoke that day, her sudden hatred, the sound of the gun, death certificates, and reason of death being suicide, flash disappearance- everything made sense, as if they were parts of a puzzle._

I am a man of science, and logically speaking, these were the evidences that told me of _her_ non-existence in this world. But as a doctor, I have come across situations where science and rational thinking have failed and miracles have happened. Although I could not wave off these evidences and count them as null, a small voice at the back of my mind had always instilled hopes in me.

 _All this is lies. She could still be alive. She could still be there waiting for you._

And it was on this unvoiced hope that I have been living on for the last six years. It is this single ray of hope on whose energy I have been working my ass off to become the president of the Walker's Healthcare And Co. that I have been nodding to all atrocities inflicted on me by my brother and the Duke. It has been six months now that I have been in the shoes of the president of the company, and now I intend to use all my powers and resources to find _her_ , even if I have to dig _her_ up from _her_ _grave_.

Sunlight blinded my eyes, as the sun rose in the east, marking another miserable day without _her_. I was never fond of the sun, and in the last few years, the sun neither chased away the darkness of my life with its light nor provided me the warmth that the muffler could provide. I asked the same question to the sun, like I did every day,

 _Just where are you Misaki?_

* * *

I slide into a neat white shirt, and except for the first 3 buttons, I button up the rest. Cedric steps forward to button up the cuffs, while I run my other hand through my hair, messing it thoroughly. I heard Cedric 'tch' me," you have to look as the best man of the night, master. You shouldn't..."

"He will always be the best man of the night, even if his hair is all messed up, isn't it Takumi?"

 _Yes, name the devil, and lo, she is here. I sighed._ **Linda** _._

"Why aren't you downstairs? ", I asked, even though I knew the answer. Cedric bowed and left me with this she-devil, who took slow steps towards me and picked my coat off the couch.

"Oh c'mon, darling, do you think I'll walk down into the party without my escort accompanying me?" she said while she held the coat for me to wear. Sighing, I wear my coat, for I was prepared beforehand to get my patience tested tonight.

She came forward with my tie in her hand. The tie gripped in between her slender fingers, she slightly traced my chest with her fingers, in an attempt to close the buttons that I had intentionally left open. But before she could tease me any further, I grip her hands slightly and kiss the back of her hand, my eyes never leaving her shrewd ones.

"I believe you could keep your hands to yourself, right?" I asked nonchalantly, willing she would disappear into thin air.

She put her hands around my shoulder, unperturbed by the indifference in my behaviour towards her. "You know, no one would believe that we didn't even share a kiss in the two years of our relationship, let alone share a bed with you." She said, her face much too close than I had expected.

 _I could only think of one word,_ **leech** _._

I grip her jaw enough to startle her, but not too tightly that it would leave traces of _any untoward activity_." Had I not told you at the start only, _Miss Williams_ , that I am least interested in a relationship with you and that you are free to walk out of this relationship anytime didn't I?" I asked, while I started unclenching her fingers from my shirt. Playing the same game of tease with her, I whispered to her in her ear, "Besides, I intend to be a gentleman tonight."

 _Now we are even_ , I thought as I smirked when she let out her breath which she had been holding.

"I just wish sometimes you wouldn't be that gentleman" she said while she turned to the mirror to look at herself.

 _Keep wishing, you bitch..._

A sharp tap and a curt voice brought us out of our own thoughts.

"Master, Mistress- it's about time." Cedric said, as he opened the door wide for us. I extended my arm towards her, and she took it with all the grace that she had ever learnt and walked down the stairs that led to the hall where the party was being held.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. WALKER" everybody said in chorus, when we entered the hall where the guests were waiting.

"Thank you, people. I'm indeed honoured by your presence tonight. Please enjoy the party and I hope you have a very good evening." I said, playing the role of a perfect Walker.

I smile and nod and thank endlessly and talk sweet things with each and every guest that made their way to us to wish me on my birthday. After all I was the president of one of the most influential companies in the rat race; it was all trust and contacts that made the difference. And I put up the charade of a typical Walker that everyone here was aware of. The typical Walker...

 _Pretences. Walkers were all nothing but masters of pretence. So far, we have an unbeaten record I guess..._

My weak bodied brother made way to us, his faithful butler lingering behind him like his shadow.

"Greetings, Linda. You look beautiful as ever..." he said as he greeted the lady beside me, who was burdened into a relationship with me by Gerald, two years back. Of course, whether or not it is my birthday, Gerald would ignore me, like always. Not that I minded though...I didn't even care.

"Thanks Gerald. If you hadn't thrown this wonderful party, I might not have been able to see Takumi for another couple of months..."-she sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Good evening to you brother" he said, with a smile showing all his teeth. "We are finally honoured to see you by god's grace in the mansion, aren't we Linda? Besides, I have managed to make your birthday look more like a happy one, rather than it being considered as a day of regret, don't you agree Takumi? Mother would be indeed proud."

 _Payback time._

"My birthday is definitely beautiful, no doubt, but I'm sure if mother were to be present here right now, I could tell who she might and who she might not be proud of..." I said my smile even wider and cunning than his. I no longer had to restrain myself from wrenching his neck off for all his sly comments, because I no longer came under his so called ' _care'_ or in better words-his dictatorship. I am the president of the Walker Healthcare And Co, representing eighty-five percent of the Walker business, while Gerald held the ownership of only fifteen percent of the entire Walker business, for he is the CEO of the _Walker Pharmaceutical Industries LTD_ , whose annual sales turnover was equivalent to the quarterly turnover of my company.

"Do you guys have to bite each other's head every time you meet?" Linda asked who was effectively ignored by me and Gerald.

"Don't go overboard Takumi Walker, you are still..."

"Shut up and _get lost_." I said as sweetly as I could, with an evil grin, putting up the act that we were still talking like long lost brothers for all the guests who were looking in our direction. Gerald's face was worth watching since he tried to control his anger under the pretentious mask that he had been wearing tonight.

"The game is not over yet, Takumi...I'll _definitely_ get back to you for this." He said as he turned to leave _._

"Peace, boys. This is neither the time nor the place to display your childish antics." The duke said as he stepped into the picture. Gerald gave a cold glare to Richard and turned to exit.

"You boys never learn, do you? Anyways... happy birthday, _son_." I raised my eyebrows in suspicion, when I heard him address me _son_.

 _Nah, seriously now? The old man never plays nice._

"Richard, please. Save your sugar-coated words for your billionaire guests out there. Your sweetness gives me a toothache, you see?" I said by faking a pain and cupping my cheeks, just to irritate him.

 _I don't play nice, either._

His face grew red in anger. "You ungrateful insolent fool..."

"Don't swear, Richard. Why don't you go and take some rest?" I said while I turn my back at him to receive another guest, while I smile inwardly when I heard him stomp away angrily.

I sit at the bar, sipping the wine I had ordered. Linda was gossiping with some other ladies and gentlemen, while I sat enjoying the peaceful moments, no matter how short they might be. Unfortunately, it seemed to me that I was being punished by my fate today.

"Holla, birthday boy. You seemed to be quite busy tonight, isn't it? I never got a chance to wish you properly. So...happy birthday!"

I sighed. "thanks Tora."

"Are you still with Linda, I mean in a relationship with her? Because today you guys seemed so distant..." I continued to drink, ignoring his provoking comments. "you know what, she looks so good yet no one would believe if you said that you have not swept her off her feet..."

I looked in the direction he was looking. There was a group of people, standing and chattering, while sipping away the wine they had been offered. Amongst them was a lady, all fair, her smile radiating in all directions. She wore a red gown, a designer piece, with a deep slit in the front, accentuating her curves. Her blonde hair swished from side to side as she welcomed the guests. Linda Williams, supposedly is his to-be-fiancée, was a sight sore to men's eyes. She was rich, beautiful, smart, and one of the three heirs to the wealthy shipping company, _ **.**_ Even though Gerald is the true heir of the Walkers, he could not marry anyone because of his bad health. Therefore, he tied me and Linda into a relationship so that Linda's company could bring business to Gerald's company. And I on the other hand, nodded yes to the relationship, so that I could become the president of the company, without any glitches in my path. And now that I have achieved it, I see no sense in being in this hollow relation. I did not care if she liked someone or if someone else is holding her hands, like it is right now.

"You really don't care if someone else takes her hand, do you? Or wait...what would you have done if it was _**her**_ instead of Linda?"

 _You shouldn't have spoken about_ **her** _Tora. Now you are going to regret it._

I grip his collar and he stumbles forward under my strength, "I have nothing to do with her, Tora, but your business would have to do a lot with me if the word spreads that I kicked you out of my house, that too from this billionaire birthday party. Do not speak of _**her**_ ever again, do you understand?" I say menacingly, while he growls and tries to pull free.

"That's enough, Takumi. Let go of him." I heard a voice say behind me. I let go of him, but not without a warning.

"Don't you dare to even think about _**her**_ ; for you might not have a saviour next time...I hope I have made myself very clear.", and I walk away with my hands in the pocket, restraining myself from doing anything that would catch everyone's attention.

I make my way to the terrace, away from the non-realistic world for some peace and quiet. I take out the photo from my shirt and stare at _her face_. No matter how many times I looked at the photo, _she_ never changed. That smile, _her_ wide eyes, _her_ blushing cheeks- no, they were always the same. Sometimes he wished that their relationship wouldn't change too, like this photo.

 _You are so stubborn, aren't you Misaki?_

I traced _her_ face in the photo, wishing like always, that it would be _her_ face instead of the one in the photo. The terrace reminded me of many things, about _her_ especially, and the moments we shared in the school terrace. And that photo was a reminder of the first kiss they shared, on the terrace. I stared at the studded sky, remembering how she used to love the sky full of stars.

 _You weren't just a star to me, Misaki; you were my whole damn sky._

My thoughts are interrupted by an uninvited visitor, who makes his way toward me. I shove the photo inside my shirt, and address the person who was standing behind me now.

"What do you want, Ron?" I ask, irritated that my privacy had been encroached for the nth time today.

"How rude! I think you should thank me, for having stopped you from creating a scene. But never mind...sorry I was late, I had...err...something important to handle. Yeah-so happy birthday, boss. " Ron said.

"What was so important that you had to come late to your own boss' party, huh?" I ask as I get up to face him. Ron or Ronald was one of the few people I had learnt to trust, although I had met him for the first time only six months back, when Gerald appointed him as his personal assistant, when I became the president of the company. Ron was all that what anyone would want as their pa, he was smart, smooth and efficient. I waited for him to answer, while he removed a white envelope from his coat pocket.

"Since you have asked me anyways, here take this." He said while extending that white envelope towards me.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It is...consider it as a gift from me on your birthday." Ron said, grinning as if he won a Noble prize.

 _A gift_ , I thought. He, of all people knew that I never accepted gifts, for I saw no purpose behind them. _Then why is he giving me this...gift?_

"Just open it, Takumi. And yes before you jump to any conclusions and fire me from my job, please listen to what I have to say."

 _Definitely suspicious._

I open the white envelope and remove the contents. Amidst the crisp white sheets, a photo fell down on the floor. I bend down and pick up the photo and was shocked to see the photo.

 _It was a photo of me and her...it was one of the photos from the scrapbook._

I open and read through the contents of the envelope. I clench the papers in my hand, as anger and shock takes over me _._

 _It was her death certificate._

"What is the meaning of all this? Where..." I ask him, the rage in my voice seemingly uncontrolled while my free hand gripped his neck and pinned him to the wall.

"These... are... fake."- he choked out, desperately trying to unclasp his boss' fingers from around his neck.

 _What in the hell...?_ I only tightened my hand around his neck in response.

"You...heard ...me right...Taku- these are fake...fa-ke certificates..." he sputtered out the words, as my grip almost choked him. I removed my hand from his neck, and he fell down, his breath ragged and body limp against the wall. I tilt his head and ordered him, "speak now." He took a deep breath before he started speaking.

"These papers...I got them three months ago when you ordered me to bring some files from your study to the office. I found these papers along with the photo..." he said, while pointing his fingers to those papers and the photo." Guessing from your look in the photo, I thought that girl might be important, for I have never seen you smile like that. And then those papers...I just got curious and took a photocopy of these. Then the name of the person on the certificates... These papers are fake, and I thought you should know that."

I stared at those papers in my hand. _Her death certificate...was a fake one?_ But...

"How do you know that these are fake? It is from the Japanese governments records, the government wouldn't be storing fake..."

"I don't think you know, as I did not put it on my résumé, but, I" he gestured at himself "was a professional hacker. The world runs on money, Takumi, and you know that better than me. Even I got to know about these papers being fake only a few days ago, as in the last two and a half months I have been trying my best to contact the registrar of the province where these papers are supposedly registered to, to crosscheck the serial number and the name of the person who is mentioned in those papers. In the meanwhile, I hacked the records of the government, and found the original document with the same serial number." He said as he motioned to the bunch of papers which contained Misaki's death certificate.

Sure enough, there was another certificate, of an unidentified person- but with the same serial number.

"The signature and the stamp both are duplicate, because the sign on this girl-Misaki's death certificate- by the registrar of the province is not the same as the one in the other certificates which were signed at around the same time. And the colour of the stamp, it has faded away, because it was not the original stamp. Besides, it took me a lot of effort to get the original document with the same serial number, since I don't read or talk Japanese."

I don't know when he stopped speaking because I was so much engrossed with myself over one fact.

 _Her death certificate was...FAKE...which means..._

My happiness knew no bounds when my brain finally kicked in and understood that fact. All this while I have been thinking that she had left me, except for that one tiny voice which still kept me going. I hugged Ron, who was too flustered to react to his boss' madness, because only a few moments ago Takumi had literally choked him to death and now was hugging him as if he had given him a new lease of life.

I look down at my hands, where I still held her death certificate, a fake one. I was too overjoyed with the fact to notice my absentmindedness as to why I had not suspected the certificates to be fake before. But...it could mean only one thing.

"You are still there out somewhere aren't you, Misaki?" I hadn't noticed that I had voiced out my thoughts until I heard Ron chuckle behind me.

"About that...I don't really know, but yes, she was most probably – _not dead_ when those certificates were made...but there is one more thing I wanted to tell you, rather remind you..."

I turn around to face him at his sudden pause,but he was already at the door, his hand on the door knob and the door open, ready to step out.

"Someone has set this up all, and played quite skilfully, Takumi. Someone who knows everything, in and out, about you and that girl. If I were you, I would definitely be more alert. Anyways,"he said, turning to look back at me, with a glow of sincerity in his eyes, " I hope you liked my gift. Happy birthday, Takumi."

And I was left all alone on the terrace, and for once, I was finally at peace.

I removed the locket and opened it to see her blushing face once again. I read the inscription, and I felt as if I understood the meaning behind her words for the first time.

 _ **My heart beats only for you, love. - M.A.**_

I close the locket and stare at the sky. She is alive. Misaki is alive...

 _Wait for me, Misa-chan._

 _I'm coming._

* * *

A/N: there...we meet again. So how do you like this chapter? Its 5743 words, only the story and I wasn't planning to write so long...(the story grew its own tongue! Lol) so do you have any suggestions, or anything you didn't get in my story so far? Pls feel free to leave it in the review or pm me. Boring, interesting, anything else, do tell me.

I wont say that more reviews means faster updates but definitely your reviews make me come back to the story...so please review!

Till next time, bimba.


	4. REACHING OUT

A/N: I wish an apology could make up for the time lapse.

I a truly sorry.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maid sama.

* * *

 **REACHING OUT**

I keep myself busy

With the things I do

 _But every time I pause,_

 _I still think about you._

* * *

The only sounds heard on the seventh floor of one of the fast-paced, exquisite branches of the _Regal Co-op_ was the sound of well manicured fingers striking against the keyboard and the soft shuffling of files. Sitting against the sleek metallic desk is a lady, dressed in an office suit and her hair pulled back into an untiring pony tail, who was too lost in work to notice the darkening sky or the dimmed lights of the office floor. A part of being a lawyer is paperwork. _Tons of them, never-ending, and always exhausting_. And keeping the files organised and updated, is the style of this lady, who is one of the reputed and most efficient lawyers in the company. The lady in discussion might have just ignored the growl of her stomach and continued with her work if she had not been interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She flipped her phone to see the caller-id. _Aoi._ And then she noticed the time in the corner of the mobile. She sighed.

 _Dang it_

She pressed the red light on her touch-screen to switch off the phone. She still had a couple of files to go through before she could call it a day. Her eyes rested on a green file, its appearance too rich to be unnoticed.

 _What was it again...? Classified, wasn't it..._

She rubbed her hands and cupped the warmth to her eyes. She should not get distracted. _**Not today**_.

 _Sorry Aoi_ , she mentally apologised, before she put her phone away.

Forty minutes later, the last of the files found its way from the desk to the cupboard. She slapped down the laptop, smoothed out the creases on her shirt, and walked out of the office building briskly - in an attempt to stretch her cramped muscles. Wrapping the coat around her, she swung her bag over her shoulders, the file seemingly weighing heavier in her heart than in the bag. It was unprofessional of her to carry work back home, but she had to compose herself and calm down before she started on the case, the first report due in a few days. She recalled her afternoon in Brad's office, and how this file had made its way into her life.

 _ **Misaki's P.O.V.**_

 _ **12.40 pm, The Regal Co-op.**_

 _(Ring, ring...)_

I picked up the receiver, " _this is The Reg-..._ "

"Brad here. Come to my office now."

 _...Huh ...what?_

I stare at the receiver in my hand as if to check if I had picked up the wrong phone. Astonishment splashed over my face and I blinked twice. There was a slight edge in his voice, if one heard him properly. We were talking about Brad here .The same Brad who found it _easier_ to flirt with Angela and get his work done than dial a digit on the office phone. And then I saw Angela skipping across the room, dismissing the nods and smiles of her co-workers. _Seems to be in a hurry..._

"Hey...did you hear to what I just said..." his voice was heard from the other end of the telephone, laced with a tone of urgency.

"Yeah, I heard. " I answered dutifully to my kind boss, "I'll be around in a minute."

My hands move on their own to rearrange the files on my desk, simultaneously opening drawers and shutting files. I smoothen out my creases as I make my way to Brad's office, when I'm nearly hit by Angela, who was walking hastily to the same destination, only with an additional tray of drinks, in which I was about to be bathed in.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry..." she started with a frantic look on her face, setting down the tray to avoid further disasters.

"Don't fret over it. But hey, what's going on?" I found myself asking her, trying to make her spill the beans. But instead she only looks at me up and down, which made me look at myself and wonder if I really did wear the shirt inside-out.

"Ok. Neat. Clean. Spotless. Perfect. Ready?" she asked, bubbling with anticipation.

 _Ready for what?_ I wondered, but failed to voice my thoughts as she had already opened the doors of the office and I followed her lead.

Small chatter and business like ambience welcomed us, as I came face to face with the person who knowingly or unknowingly had stirred up the atmosphere of the office. After the initial greetings and introductions, I looked at the stoic man who sat opposite to me. His voice was husky, and had a face drained of emotions. He looked like he was in his early thirties, his pale skin stretched taut over his cheekbones, excepting the wrinkles on his forehead which were masked by the layers of his dark hair, but his coppery brown eyes looked as if he has seen life double his age. He was dressed neat, but not for the occasion. His baggy eyes and dark rims around his eyes told that he didn't sleep much recently. _Mr Ryder_. Englishman. _Must be the jetlag_ , I concluded.

"...then Ms. Evelyn Ross shall take over the case..." I found Brad saying when I reconnected myself to the present discourse, while Mr. Ryder was skimming over a thin bunch of papers.

"Very well then", Mr. Ryder continued, and then looked up at me, his brown eyes wandering all over, as if to catch some fault in me, before his eyes set on mine," I look forward to working with you as well, Ms. Ross." We all get up and after brief handshakes the newcomer is led to the exit by Angela where he would have to sign some agreement papers.

"So what is all this fuss about, Brad?"

He dropped a shiny green file on my lap and continued to pace in the small room of his office.

" _Classified case_. Ryder. Your client, from England. The England branch office opened their clientele to us. They assigned this case to you. Pretty much high-profile." I absorbed all this new information while he continued to pace around and kept muttering. "This could be a great opportunity for the New York branch. Heck, this is even a great chance for you ..." Brad kept talking about this and that and about pay-checks, promotions and what not.

"But," I said, interrupting him and voicing my own thoughts,"why did they not take up the case themselves? Why transfer it to the New York branch? And, why me? And why am I the last one to be notified on this, if I'm going to be on the case?"

I look up at Brad, who had finally settled into a chair. He was flipping the pen as if he was pondering over my questions before he answered.

"We had been notified about a high profile case being transferred here a few weeks back, but because the investigations were hastened midway, it had come to this. And as for you taking on this case," he paused, to see if I got the whole picture, and then continued," your progress has been monitored. Law firms work on giving their clientele their best shot. And for a rich, famous client, it applies all the more. You are one of the best lawyers in this branch, so ..." he said, his incomplete sentence still looming in the air.

I pick up the green file and wordlessly exit my boss' cubicle and make my way to my own desk, confidence and pride bursting forth me.

 _One of the best lawyers, huh?_ I thought to myself as a smile spread over my face. _Not that I did not deserve it._

I started to make mental notes of what I came to know about my client from our first meeting, as I approached my desk. Tall, well-built, and from the looks of her client, he seemed to have settled in Europe for a long time now. The tattoo that had peeked out of his collar on his left side ending just below the ear had not escaped her vision. A Rolex had dangled on his wrist, and a number of rings had adorned his long fingers, nails trimmed, his taste in rings more inclined towards skull-and-bones types than the elegant gold and diamond bands. The handshake had revealed a calloused, but a firm hand. He was dressed in the typical office attire, only creased with the length of his travel, showing his urgency and eagerness to get the case sorted out. His accent, I noted, was something else. There was an accent, an underlying tone that could be easily missed when one became used to his voice, that told her that he might not be of an English origin. But it was the eyes I was concerned about. His brown eyes, with a singe of copper in it, seemed to be unnatural or rather disorienting of sorts, to be precise. _The eyes say it all_ , she recalled, from one of the midsummer afternoon lectures from her favourite professor. The sadness in his eyes was not easy to dismiss, but the familiarity that had shot through his gaze when he paused to look at me, was something that had been gnawing her mind.

Not being able to put off the excitation any longer, I flipped open the case file and skimmed through the contents, while mindlessly humming a tune. This might be a step in the ladder of success, and who knew, I might even get a fat perk for winning the case.

That was, till I saw the name of the respondent for my case. My excitation flipped into waves of nervousness that chilled my gut and gave me goose-bumps. It was then I knew that I was on a boat without an oar to row away from danger, letting the sea toss and turn and feed me to the devil.

 _And I did not have a life-jacket._

My heart settled into an uneasy rhythm as the thoughts reverted back to the file. And she knew it had nothing to do with her ability of studying the case but it was her mind that was messing up her emotions with work, intertwining her past with the present. She clutched the strap of her bag tightly to stop the hands from trembling and steadied herself, looking ahead at the road to be crossed. There was no going back now.

 _Not because it was a classified file._

 _Not because the_ _England branch office selected her in the entire office to review the case_ _._

 _It was because_ _ **he**_ _\- -_

Ah, the people standing beside her began to walk. The traffic lights had swapped and it was her turn to cross the road. After walking for about a few minutes, she took a right turn and reached the nearest bus stop, waiting to catch the next bus. She switched on her mobile, and typed a homecoming text to Aoi.

The bus ride was dull, leaving her mind unoccupied. She turned towards the window, her eyes raking the dark alleys and the darker skyline. People were walking with coffee in their hands, or talking in the phones, teens moved their bodies to the beat of the music coming from their earphones, the elderly out for a ride with their loyal companion dogs, while the more passionate ones linked their arms or were kissing or were - ugh, whatever. The city had the same liveliness as it had five years ago, when she landed from hell into this city's Brooklyn University for graduating with a major in law. The city had sheltered her immediate family and herself, and even though it gave her a cold shoulder, she was still eternally indebted to the city. Because she was comfortable being a complete stranger, walking among a crowd of varying races, who weren't aware of her upside down life. She wouldn't have to be worried about running into someone in the middle of the day who knew who she was, or knew about her past. She had enough on her plate to worry about presently -her family, especially Aoi, finances, her office, boss and now... _this file_. Not that she hadn't known that she could never forget her haunting past, but probably she herself didn't want to forget-

 _ **Him**_ _._

 _His love._

 _Their days together._

 _And their days apart._

 _About mom, her home, Seika High, the maid Caffè_...

 _ **Suzuna**_.

 **The reason why she is here now**.

Her eyes hardened as she painfully gulped down her past. Sorrowful as it was, she didn't have the time to wallow in self pity. And it was this reason for which she could rise up from her bed instead of sinking into the ocean, the same reason which propelled her to move forward and to carry out her responsibilities, to make sure that Suzuna would be smiling for the rest of her life.

Her luck had really run out. She stared at the open end of the bottle and mumbled curses at it, as she heard Suzuna ask-

"So... _Truth_ or _Dare_...? "

Her lips muted into a single line, slightly pouting. Her luck had been holding on for four rounds. But she ended up as a victim on the fifth...

"What about an option three?"

Suzu smiled,"What's wrong with these two?" putting away her negotiation skills out of the window.

She glared daggers at her sister. She was the only one who could help her out of the game, but she was constantly showing her back to me. She also didn't miss the glares Aoi gave to Suzu. _Ganging up against her, huh?_

 _Not fair. Not so fair._

Dare was never an option for her. She had been asked to cook, which was not gonna happen without blowing up the house, or at least wouldn't end without an mishap or model an flimsy dress designed by aoi.

Afraid of being told to wear three plaits to work, she picked up the safer option.

"Truth "

Aoi finally gave up being a wallflower and decided to ditch the silent treatment and talk with her," You have to tell the truth, then", he said in the tone of matter-of-fact.

"I guess that's what it stands for", she said nonchalantly wondering if she was in a court trial.

"Then why are you late? " Aoi asked, his long hands crossing over his chest to give the impression of being angry. Or unhappy. _Probably both_.

" Office." My one-word answers did not seem to justify my hard work, but only served to inflate his anger.

"Last time I checked, your office ends at _xxxx hours_."

" _Last time_ you _checked_ ", she said, puffing out her cheeks," was when _I_ was an _intern_ there."

There was always this once-in-a-week inescapable conversation with Aoi, or more like a lecture to ground her for being late. And its occurrence was increasing of late.

 _Darn it_ , she stared at him, her ambers burning with an increasing intensity _, and she felt like a disobedient high school teenager_.

Her stare was only met with an equally ferocious cold glare, that pair of blue eyes refusing to give up.

 _And he reminded her of mom._

"It is not safe for you to out so late in the evening. " He said, a frown intensifying his facial features and his hoarse voice cracking just a bit," and would you just answer my calls instead of cut-"

"Hey, I have grown older, but I still know self defence to keep myself-"

"What if it is not enough?"He said, interrupting me.

"I - ", the words stuck in my throat the moment I held the weight of Aoi's stare.

What if it is...- _not enough..?_

She felt his gaze harden, as he continued the silent conversation.

 _It is not enough._

 _ **You have to tell the truth,**_ His ice-blue eyes reminded her of his words. It took her more than a moment for her hard-wacked, over-worked lump of a brain to realize what he was referring to.

 _It was not enough..., back then..._

Her hair shadowed her face and her fists balled into her lap. Rage consumed her, as she tried to overcome her weakness. But all she felt was a familiar numbness, suppressed anger, and the feeling of being powerless. The air that held their silent conversation only seemed to get colder by the minute, giving her goose bumps on her exposed skin, another minute reminder of an another night. She closed her eyes and tried to keep her breathing steady. But behind the closed eyes, all she could see was _red_. _Red_ for anger, _red_ for blood, _red_ for regret, _red_ for oppression. Everything was _red_. She felt blind and helpless, the _negativity of red_ choking the life out of her.

 _If only... If only I had..._ -

"The light bulb is broken." Came Suzuna's voice from nowhere, sucking her out of her own black hole.

 _"WHAT?",_ both Aoi and Misaki asked in unison, snapping out of their own worlds.

"I said", Suzu made sure that she held both their attentions, "the light bulb is broken, isn't it, Hinata?"

She elbowed him when he was out of turn to answer her. _Too busy munching on his girlfriend's sandwiches to notice the world fall apart._

"Ah... Yes, yes that's right. The chair is broken, so don't sit on it..."Hinata said who was eating, or rather gobbling whole sandwiches, oblivious to the world war that had been threatening to erupt between her and Aoi if not for Suzuna's timely interruption.

Neither she nor Aoi could hold back their laughter any longer while Suzu grabbed away Shintani's plate and tried to mock kill him with a pillow to hide her embarrassment.

Misaki's laughter reduced to a giggle as she saw her family laugh and huddle together. Such laughs were hard to come by, _ever since_. And she saw Aoi who was trying to disengage Suzuna from Hinata for the fear that she might actually end up killing him while trying hard not to do so. Her eyes traced back to Aoi, his childishness wiping away the mood of tension that transpired between them. Although he was not the one who had been primarily affected, each one of us had been scarred in our own way and tried to keep the other from succumbing to their fears. But Aoi was the one who had seen in through and through, from the beginning to the end. _That probably made him more protective of us all._

After the commotion died, and after Hinata was brought back from the dead, but was still pretending to be half dead, the boys brought out the booze along with more sandwiches and hamburgers, instead of the usual _rice-and-curry-Japanese_ dinner.

"What's the occasion?" I asked helping to set the table with Suzuna as the boys stacked the food on the table.

"Try to make a guess", Suzuna suggested, while she sat down on the chair that was held out for her by Shintani. _Where did he learn these manners_ , I wondered. _Something's definitely up_.

"Um...Friday night...?"

"Payday...?"

"End of season sale in nearby supermarket...?"

"nope"

"Did Hinata finally realise that he was no good and broke up with you, and that you are throwing a break-up party?"

The last guess by Aoi was happily received by a big bang made by a fist hitting his skull, mixed with loud screams for getting kicked under the table.

"Did you by any chance find a job or something?" Misaki asked Suzuna sceptically as she surveyed the edges of her sandwiches. Suzuna was still a university student studying tech and all, and we all had convinced her to complete her studies and then concentrate on finding a job where her degree skills would be useful, since the other three had been working anyways.

"you are close, but off the mark", Suzuna concluded,"no, I didn't find a job, but someone here," she said, waving her free hand at Shintani," found a new job. With promotion, that is."

The declaration was followed by lot of hooting and the clinking of our beer glasses. After a lot of "cheers!", petting and bro-fisting, Shintani stole a glance towards me, with a face that wore a _should-I-or-should-I-not_ look. My glares probably turned his nerves to jelly, when I could see him shrinking away from the original plan. Apparently, telepathy didn't work with Shintani.

Before Shintani shrunk away, I clank the spoon to my plate loud enough to catch the room's attention, Hinata's widening eyes not escaping my field of vision. "there's more news...", I said, giving Hinata a _don't-you-dare-go-back-on-your-words-now_ face, my eyebrows almost nearing my hairline, and prompted him to continue.

Shintani's face goes to deep shade of red, when he brings out a velvet box and gets down on his knee-before he stammers out his practiced words to the one he wishes to stay by his side- and the silence of the room multiplies by ten when he ends it with – "will you marry me, Suzuna?"

Aoi is dumbstruck, while Suzuna wore a look screaming _is-this-even-for-real?_ although her tears spoke volumes of her joy. And Shintani, who is still on the floor on his knee, is simply happy to see Suzuna happy.

I was, of course, happy for my sister and my best friend. Shintani had already foreseen his promotion a week ago and wanted me to help him out with the selection of the ring for Suzuna. The fact that he sincerely waited and allowed Suzu to heal before they took things ahead, made me really happy for my sister.

But, the fact that I envied them and their happiness, remained. I too held a love in my heart, which had been as real and as joyous as this. And the proof she held of her love was the metallic band that she wore forever and a day, on her ring finger of the left hand.

Even though I wanted to revel in their happiness, I was flooded with emotions _. And raging memories_. The ones that were burnt in the sands of time, were unlocked and dancing in front of my eyes.

 _The gala night. Her blue dress. And his white blazer._

 _The shimmering lights. The soft music. The humming crowds. The mosaic tiles._

 _Her hands around his neck. His hands on her waist._

 _Their eyes on each other, in a world forgotten._

 _The closeness. His lips on my ear._

 _His hot breath. A silver band on my finger._

 _I love you, he whispered._

 _Please marry me, sweetheart…he said, pulling me on my toes to kiss me, but pausing to hear my answer…_

She wiped away the tears with the back of the hand, not wanting to taint the newfound happiness of Suzuna and Hinata with her sad past. She shifted her attention to the room and cleared her throat at the public display of affection of the newly engaged couple, while Aoi was silently enjoying the show, muffling away his laughter.

Suzuna couldn't believe that she was engaged to Hinata, after all this time. She kept staring, touching and polishing her ring and after a few minutes, she repeated the same actions, like a mantra. Shintani had given up on her after sometime, but was quite pleased with himself. Aoi, being the photographer that he was, was trying to get some pics of the couple post dinner. But no matter what the picture that Aoi took, Suzu kept touching her ring, which had irritated Aoi to no end.

"seriously", Aoi asked, as he flicked a few photos," Are you going to keep touching the ring for eternity? I believe you would be doing this even on the brink of death", he said, while giving a comical demo of the same.

Suzuna hurled the nearest object on him, which missed him by a good measure, while calling him an idiot. "Who would not be happy to be engaged to the person who you love", she said, "I might as well die happily if this were my last day on earth."

"I would want to eat Suzuna's homemade food before I die," Hinata said, while dropping an arm around Suzuna," since I don't have to worry about her upper-class men going behind Suzuna as I already proposed to her."

"Then I would want to walk on the red carpet of the Paris Fashion Week as a celebrated and world-famous designer alongside models flaunting the dresses I designed for the world to see.", Aoi said, adding dramatically, "if it were my last day on earth."

"and what about you, Misa-Chan? What would you like to do if this were your last day on earth?", Hinata asked me.

"I would…", I started, when I heard his words clearly…

 _ **Misa-Chan?**_ _... his husky voice that teased me whenever he called me that way._

 _The playboy Usui. His sinful smile._

 **I blinked but I became blind** _. Blind to my surroundings, blinded by his emerald eyes._

 _His whisper that rose above the din of my hammering heart._

 _His fingers digging into the flesh on my back._

 _His lingering touch that seared my skin._

 _The smell of cologne at the crook of his neck._

 _The silkiness of his hair that escaped between my fingers._

 _The fire that remained in her when their lips met,_

 _tongues battled, fuelled by their passions._

 _He kissed her against the wall, against the cold, under the night sky, beneath the stars, cunningly drawing her into his passion, and kissed her like no other._

 _ **But…**_

 _She was reminded of another cold night, lonely walls, only this time, she was surrounded by air that was screaming an impending doom._

 _That horrendous night. those bone numbing laughs._

 _The call. That last call._

 _His voice._

" _I hate you", I had said, with a trembling voice that had no life._

 **No…I need to apologise** _ **.**_

" _louder", the man said, his voice sending chills down my spine..._

" _I…", I begun, but found no courage in my voice._

 _he cocked his gun and unlatched the safety trigger, while pointing the gun to the victim. And he was about to press the trigger when I…_

 **when I told those words that I never meant, and broke that bond of trust unwillingly.**

"apologise", I said, unaware of voicing my thoughts loudly, when I saw three pairs of eyes focusing on me, expectantly waiting for me to continue. "if it were my last day on earth," I started," I would like to apologise. To _**him**_."

 _The blue dress contrasted his white blazer, and I lifted on my toes to kiss him, and I said yes, when I intertwined my ring-laden finger into his, to be lost in the depths of the green in his eyes._

 **As if an apology could mend back the broken heart, or the time lost in midst of the universe.**

"I wish I could apologise to Usui. For one last time, I wish I could tell him, that I love you."

There was a long stretch of silence, following her declaration. She did not know for how long the silence ensued, but when she came back to her senses, all she knew was that three pairs of eyes were focused on her. She only lowered her gaze and made no attempts to curtail the stream of tears that made their way down her cheeks. She sighed heavily.

 _There. She did it again. She did what she was so good at doing._

 _Destroyed the peacefulness_.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for patiently reading till the end. I do intend to complete the story till the end and not leave it hanging midway, so that's that. Your reviews are wholly appreciated, and I honestly find them encouraging to continue my story.

I once again apologize for the long, long delay and will sincerely work towards faster story updates.

Thank You,

Yours sincirely,

Bimba.


	5. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART

Disclaimer: I do not own Maid-sama.

* * *

 **5\. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART**

 _At night,_

 _When I can't sleep,_

 _I want nothing more than to roll over and_

 _talk to you._

* * *

 _ **Misaki's P.O.V:**_

I fluffed my pillow, pulled the blanket over my head, shut my eyes so tightly, and yet sleep would find a way to elude me. Another lonely, miserable night, _I thought to myself_. Just one more in the row of consecutive sleepless nights. I reached out for the pills on the nightstand, and found an empty box. I sit up on my bed with an empty pill box in one hand, and the other clutching my hair, in despair. I groaned loudly at my own forgetfulness. I was supposed to buy them on my way back home, but the case had my mind so pre-occupied that I totally forgot. The sleeping pills were my only chance of catching a few hours of sleep before I overworked myself at the office. And in the last month, I had relied on them so much that it had become as regular and addicting as caffeine.

The _case_. And the _caffeine_ …. I meant, coffee. _I wonder if it is a good combination on a sleepless night?_

I switch on the lights and look for my office bag and realized that I had left it in the living room itself. I sighed and half made up my mind to go and curl up in the bed than walk in shame into the living room just after the scene I had created, although at this hour of the night, everyone should have been asleep.

And yet… I decide to make best use of my time.

On my way to the living room, I trip on a flat surface twice, effectively hitting my head once and my knee on the second.

And I hit hard. _Ouch._

The beer in my system blessed me with a throbbing head that effectively stops functioning when I want to make myself a cup of strong coffee at the middle of the night. The milk spilled, and I had no idea where the coffee beans were. The cleaning took up time too, since I couldn't afford to make noise and wake up the household.

 _And if making a cup of coffee meant a disaster_ , I was better off with my hands in my pocket than be near the kitchen counter.

I dragged myself to my room and lay out the file in front of me, along with my laptop and a small notebook to take notes. Securing my hair in a hairclip, I started my report with my client's name. _Ryder_. It sounded ferocious, savage and complemented the tattoo on his neck, and his skull-and-bone rings, but didn't go well with his overall looks and dressing sense. And after hopping from one link to another after a superficial search on the net, I came to no grand conclusion that he did not have a public profile. After all, Brad did say that he was a rich client. There must be a price for his privacy.

I flipped the page and read the contents in detail. The petitioner, i.e. my client Mr. Ryder, filed a case along with his wife, against the hospital in which their two-week-old son had died. In short, they wished to sue the hospital for their negligence, resulting in the death of their beloved child.

 _And guess what? – the hospital was none other than The Walker's Healthcare and Co._

I held my head in both my hands to stop the throbbing.

 _Don't you even dare get started on who is the Director of that hospital._

I read the last line scribbled in a font so small at the bottom of the document, and understood why the case had been transferred to the New York branch. Apparently, the England office wanted the trial to go fair and square and hence wished against providing attorneys for both parties from the same division, to remove all discrepancies. I held myself back from voicing non-descript swear words at the straight-faced lie that had been fabricated as an excuse for declining Mr. Ryder the opportunity of hiring an attorney from their office. Anyone who was involved with Walker's long enough, which I had the unfortunate experience of, knew that the Walkers could threaten with dark threats or dig out dirt from one's life if threat(s) were not enough to put fear back into any sane person, and make things work in a way favourable for them. And, _I bet,_ it was out of fear for the Walkers that they provided an attorney from my branch instead of theirs, a roundabout way of not losing both their clients.

I felt sorry for the Ryders, for their loss and the tough situation they are going through; and also salute the bravery that they are showing to fight against a party as infamous as the Walkers.

 _But the most important question was-_ _ **what am I going to do?**_

My fingers tightened around the pen in the way the thought was clasping around my neck, choking me and making my thoughts sputter in all directions.

Will I be able to stand up for my client against the Walkers confidently, without trembling? Will I be able to bring justice for my client, if at all they were wronged by the Walkers?

Will um…, _Takumi_ be involved?

The thought of _him_ itself was… _painful_.

If _he_ would be involved then, Will I be able to stand in front of _him_ , and interrogate _him_ properly without the guilt rising in my mouth like bile?

My mouth went dry at the next thought.

 _Will I have to sue Usui, and his hospital, if …. if they were in the wrong?_

 _Or …,_

I brought my palms over my eyes, wishing to stop the visions that my eyes were creating in consequence of my disarrayed thoughts.

 _What if it was not the Usui I knew?_

A tall, well-built man; who wore a silver coat and a deep blue sweater underneath, stood leaning on the wall in contrast to the vast skyline of England, looking deliciously beautiful as the sun set his golden hair on fire. The man whose soul had enslaved her heart.

 _What if the person who would stand before me be a cold-hearted, ruthless and a blue-blooded Walker?_

A sinful, half crooked smile lit up on his imaginary face, highlighting his green eyes, his face shadowed by his silky blonde hair, eliciting a darkness that was well hidden till then. He took a lazy step forward, and then another, slow yet intimidating; with a look that belonged to a predator approaching its paralyzed prey. The boyish demeanour had dissolved into thin air, and all that remained was a cold mask of an adept, powerful businessman. _A bloody opportunist -slash-Walker._

He walked towards me till there were two steps distance between us. His green eyes gleamed in the distance, in a way that made people tremble in fear. His eyes never leaving mine, his smile dissolving into a smirk; he took another step forward, when my gut instincts told me to flee to safety. And all I could see was…

A mysterious man.

 _Takumi Walker_.

An artistic playboy, not bounded by sin or sorrow.

 _Will I be able to face Takumi Walker, not as a lawyer fighting her case or as_ _Evelyn Ross, but as Misaki?_

He leaned in close, till his hair brushed my forehead. His cold hand cupped my blushing cheek and planted his lips at the base of my ear. He kissed the spot, and moved down further, planting small kisses along the way, his tongue leaving a trace of wetness on the nape of my neck. At the hollow of the neck, his tongue traces a pattern repeatedly, and he slightly sucks the spot, while he asks," _Do you",_ his teeth nipped my skin, eliciting a heated moan from me, _"remember me, Mi-sa-ki?_ " My name from his mouth reverberates in my entire frame and my heart freezes when he looks up to meet my gaze.

 _His eyes looked cold. Too harsh, too crude._

 _That eyes did not belong to Usui's._

He blew a breath of cold air against the wet trail on my neck, making my knees go jelly, as a weird sense of fear settled at the bottom of my stomach on realization of the fact that he wasn't...

 _He wasn't Usui._

My hand flew automatically to the base of my neck as if to protect myself while a big drop of sweat made its way down my back, making every muscle on my body twitch.

 _Will I be ready to face him? Accept him?_

After six years, I'm still the same Misaki as I was before.

 _After six years, can I expect Usui to still be the same?_

I laughed dryly at my own dark humour.

 _How can I expect Usui to be the same when I had shattered his soul with my very own hands?_

A sharp knock on my door brought me back from my living nightmare and realized that I had started to hyperventilate. I started to take deep breaths, specially concentrating on time interval between inhalation and exhalation and tried to bring my breathing under control when I saw Suzuna's head peeking from the door.

I just nod my head, being still unsure about my voice, signalling her to come in. She enters the room with a tray and two cups with steam arising from them, slowly closing the door behind her using her foot. After laying the tray in front of me, in the space I cleared for her, she extended one cup towards me.

"Coffee?", she asked, a small, suspicious smile plastered on her face.

"Why…?" I started but she interceded me.

"I saw you struggling in the kitchen. I was not sleeping anyways."

I looked at her questioningly, while I folded my arms decisively, surveying if I had put away all the necessary papers of the case away from Suzu's range of vision.

 _Wait…Did she just roll her eyes at me?_

"C'mon. It's not like we can sleep after you just went away like…", and the sounds of two distinct snores just broke the silence of the night and testified against her statements. Suzu clicked her tongue while muttering under her breath.

"Never mind. I just made some coffee for you, and…", she trailed off.

"And…?"

"And I wish to talk about a few things…...Actually, only one thing….it mostly is about you…. but…. _but_ …,"

I sipped my coffee, waiting for her to complete speaking.

"it is about you and…and… _him_. Youand _Usui-san._ "

I choked on my coffee, leaving a burning sensation on my tongue which was nothing compared to the one that rose from deep unforgotten wounds. My eyes on the floor, not yet ready to meet hers, I continue to prod her further. "What of it?", I asked, in a hushed whisper.

"Nii-san, you loved him, right?"

I did not open my mouth to correct her. _That I still damned do._

"Do you still love him, after all that happened to us, Nii-san? Why? He doesn't deserve your love, Nii-san…if he hadn't left you for the Wa-Wal…his company, n-none of these would have happened."

I looked up and found Suzuna sitting so straight that it might have hurt. Her fists were tightly balled in her lap, a small shiver evident in her light frame. Her eyes were a turmoil of emotions, the slight stumble on her own words hadn't escaped me. What she said was all true, except that things could have gotten worse if Usui had not left. And that I was the one who did not deserve his love, not the other way around.

"Suzu, I think yo-…"

"Forget him, nii-san. You have a life to live in front of you. Instead of moving ahead you are always going in circles", she said in accusing tone that I had never heard her use against me.

Did I really hear that? _Forget him….?_

Offended beyond measure, I could feel my anger rising in the blood, my head throbbing harder than ever.

"I-…"

"you need to move on _. Dump him_ , and move on. You should try dating Kent, or let's see…...Carl (co-workers), how about hooking up with a client…- "

I almost raised my hand to slap Suzuna. Anger surged through me, as her words echoed in my ears. I looked at the crouched figure in front of me, waiting to receive my hit.

When I did not move, she looked up and met my gaze, her black-brown eyes blazing with a certain determination.

"so, you do love him, huh?", she asked, in a voice that was completely mature and adult like, in complete contrast to the tone she was speaking in a few moments ago.

I sit there looking a little dumb-struck, my face still flushed and my hands still trembling in rage, and rendered speechless while she continues to speak. Our eyes meet and I can see her eyes cautiously studying me. Still blinded by anger and agony, I try to move away but she shifts forward and holds my shoulder with both her hands.

"Do you still love him, Nii-san?", she asked, her voice stern and steady, yet felt like a gentle caress of a feather on the skin.

I do not answer immediately, but manage to make a stiff nod to answer her question.

"Does he still love you?"

I stare into her face with a blank expression. Her question threw me off-track. _Why does she want to know anyway?_ I could not think, nor find my voice to reply her question. The cold was too petty to bother about, but the goose-bumps that arose nevertheless was hard to ignore.

"He. _Loved_. Me." I said, pausing after each word. Getting those three words out hurt my throat like hell.

"Does he now?", she whispered, her words cutting through me like a knife, all sharp and clean.

I clamp my hands together as rage consumed me. I wanted to hit something. Someone. I don't know why she was doing this to me. I didn't want Suzuna to become the prey to my frustration over a sleepless night. But she was constantly pushing me over the edge.

"Why are you bringing it all of a sudden, now of all times?" I yell, not bothered to keep my voice low while I retort back.

"I know this is difficult for you." She said, unfazed by the anger I had lashed out on her." But," she held my shoulder firmly, making me look at her, "it is important that you answer them now, honestly."

She repeated her question again, her voice firm and unwavering.

"I don't know", I replied, in a voice no louder than a whisper. Tears were brimming and my vision was getting hazier. For all probable reasons my mind was telling me that he might no longer even remember me, I couldn't find the strength in me to admit it.

"Then find out", she said, as I jerked my head to be in level with her. I stared at her while her words sunk into my brain. She seemed not to joke.

"what are you saying? Are you out of your mind…?", I said, and pushed her away. "what are you even-… "

"the Misaki I know is the one who doesn't run away from her problems, but faces it head-on, fearlessly. I want that Misaki back. I refuse to accept a teary eyed, broken-heart Evelyn as my sister. Either face him or move ahead. I won't allow you to keep weeping over him all your life. If you love him, and still trust him, then seek him out, and say that you love him."

Suzuna took deep breaths, because she had said it all in one go. And when her words had finally hit me in reality, I was tongue tied.

 _Meet him, huh…?_

Sadness washed over me even before I could give her words a thought. Did I have the courage to march up to him, look at him in the eye and dare to ask him if he still loves me? And say that I have always loved you, and that night was but a mistake?

I laugh inwardly on my own thoughts, on seeing how the whole matter looked ridiculous to anyone hearing it. He would definitely laugh it off and call me a lunatic.

And I was damn sure that I would not be able to stand his rejection, or live through it, no matter how strong I looked on the outside.

I closed my eyes and let the tears pour out.

 _I will never be able to meet him, not today, nor in the future._

And that was where I chose to draw the line.

I opened my eyes and found Suzu sitting close to me, her hand clasped in mine. I looked into her eye, resolute in my thoughts and my actions.

"Suzu, I cannot …"

She put her arms around me and gave me a tight hug, and held me there for what seemed to be a long time.

"I don't want to hear your answer now, but I want you to think over it. _And think again_ , carefully and take your own time to answer." She said and headed towards the exit, leaving me with the loss of the warmth of her hug, and closed the door behind her after glancing at me for one last time.

I picked up her untouched mug of coffee and took a sip. It was still warm.

I sighed deeply.

It was going to be a long long night.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

 _I am running late._

I ran downstairs from my apartment, in my grey formals and black flats, not bothering to wait for the elevator. I held the toast between my mouth as I pulled my hair into a low ponytail. And then I remembered that Shintani was supposed to leave with me. I groaned, the toast still in my mouth, as I dashed upstairs, determined to pull Shintani by his hair if I have to. As I reach the corridor of my floor, I begin to call out for him but stop on seeing him and Suzu cradle each other in front of our apartment.

Suzuna was straightening his tie, when he put his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him, and tilted his head to kiss her full on her lips. And he said something to her, which made Suzu blush a shade deeper, if it were possible, before she started to push him away and crawl out of his arms. For one moment they looked at each other with such a deep affection and understanding, and the next moment she went in and closed the door, leaving a baffled Shintani on the doorstep, who seemed to have lost all sense of time and duty.

I dashed downstairs before he could spot me, not bothering to call out for Shintani, blushing furiously at the scene that I just happened to see, feeling flustered all over for intruding on one of their intimate moments.

 _Stupid Shintani_ , I jeered at his imaginary face, anyone in the floor corridor could have seen them kissing if they popped their heads out of their doors. I pushed the glass doors of my building and broke into a run in the direction of the bus-stop, while still chewing on my now cold toast. I ran faster as I saw the approaching bus, and caught the bus in nick of time. As I heaved and pushed my way through the masses, I chanced upon an empty seat and flopped into it in the most unladylike way.

The toast was gone, and I checked my watch. _I might not be late to work, after all,_ I thought, trying to cheer myself up. But instead of wondering about the repercussions if I do turn up late at my office, especially when my boss rescheduled the meeting to morning hours and labelled it 'urgent'; I reflected upon why I was feeling so melancholic on a fine Monday morning.

Was I feeling down because I avoided Aoi and Shintani for two whole days and creeped over to my room whenever they tried to speak to me?

Or was it because I snapped at Suzuna for more than a few times for no reason in the last two days?

Or because I couldn't find anything useful about my client and had to wait for the office files to come in from England to know more about him and the case respectively?

None of them, seemed to be the right answer, when I already knew what might have been the cause of my desolate state.

Not having realized that I had closed my eyes, I opened them and stared out of the window. I caught my own reflection on the window, and saw that my makeup didn't manage to coverup my dark circles which I earned during the last three sleepless nights. Feeling de-spirited, I ushered my focus back on the thought that had been gnawing my head.

A dull aching pain started deep in my chest.

 _That moment. That unvoiced intimacy between Suzu and Hinata,_ I thought. I shook my head, ever so slightly, thinking- _No, that sounded all wrong._ _That's outrageous._

 _Perhaps…_

My heart felt heavy in my bosom, the pain ebbing away as I zeroed down on the reason.

I wished for something that I couldn't have. Wish was a very subtle way of expressing the feeling, probably an intense burning desire would be a better way to put it.

 _I desired to be the one_ he would see the first thing in the morning.

 _I desired to be the one_ who would pick out his coat and a matching tie, and make him think about me whenever he buttons his coat or adjusts his tie.

 _I desired to be the one_ to send him off in the morning. Kiss him goodbye, and wish him a safe journey.

 _But…life isn't fair always, is it?_

"You okay?", I heard my neighbour ask in a quiet voice, and I turned my head to face him. I don't know what expression I had on my face, but was indeed startled to see Shintani on my neighbouring seat.

"Oh, Shi-.", I held my tongue from revealing his name. "you made it to the bus…?", I asked, surprised to see that he caught the bus too.

"you seem ok," he said after surveying my face like I was wounded somewhere, and then added accusingly, "you left me behind."

Now it was my turn to examine his face, "I did not leave you behind. Only that you were _too busy_ at the door to be disturbed." _Oh boy,_ I thought, his face flushed beet-red in an instant.

"you…, um…saw…eh…err", he stuttered, while a smirk sat firm on my face, answering his question.

He covered his face with his hands and groaned, still blushing furiously and I turned my face away from him, leaving him to his own devices to recover. We passed by two more stops, when he started talking again.

"she told me about what she had told you", he said, out of the blue. One look at him and I knew what he was implying. _About the Friday night, when Suzu came into my room with coffee._

 _But why was he talking about it now? I already have enough on my plate for the day._

"you see, she wasn't really meaning to….", he continued babbling although I stopped listening and gave him a nasty stare, wishing he would drop the matter and keep mum. But of course, if only Shintani was able to read between the lines and understand the atmosphere, _that he was stepping on a land-mine._

"wishes to see you and _him_ together, but- "

I snapped. "if you were to choose between me and Suzu, whom would you choose?"

His eyes widened as he pondered over the question I threw at his face, and was completely astonished.

"what?", he asked, dumbfounded.

"given my situation back then," I said," _on that night_ ", stressing purposely on these words while getting up from my seat, "what would you have done? who would you have chosen? Me or her?" and headed towards the exit.

Feeling his eyes burning a hole into the back of my head, I turned back to glance at him.

 _Choose her,_ I mouthed. _Choose Suzuna._

 _Always._

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Having left Shintani and my worries behind, at least for the time being, I tried to be a little more energetic as I approached the office. As the glass door swirled, I entered the warm and illuminated reception area. The receptionist gave a friendly smile and said, "oh! You are here. Mr and Mrs Ryder arrived just a little while ago."

 _Mr and Mrs Ryder…? Well, that's news to me._

"very well, then. Ask them to wait in my office, I'll join them in just a minute," I said and handed over the keys to her. I needed to have a word with Brad before I meet the Ryders.

"has Brad arrived yet?", I asked.

"not yet", the receptionist said.

"then are there any files for me-… "

"child, don't run on the corridor, you might fall- Stop! -…" Angela shrieked, her heels clicking noisily against the polished marble.

I turned left to see a small child, two or three years old, innocently laughing and running carelessly in the corridor. She had her hair tied into two pigtails, and wore a frilly dress that reached a little above the knee. I moved forward in the direction of the running child and picked her off the ground with one hand before she could fall and hurt herself. She struggled in my arms before I gave her to Angela who was slightly heaving now, owing to the small chase behind the child. But the child wouldn't stay still and kept thrashing around in Angela's arms.

"who is the child, Angela?"

"Your client's, Mr and Mrs Ryders' first child."

I looked at the child. She had pale pink cheeks, a small nose and she had big, light pink eyes. She had dimples on both her cheeks, and had a few teeth that showed whenever she opened her mouth.

 _But she looked familiar. Those pig tails and bright pink eyes…_

I looked at the child. She looked like she was about to cry. I patted her head, softly, while trying to make funny faces to make her smile. The moment I started patting, she had stopped struggling and looked at me with her big eyes, and climbed out of Angela's arms into mine. I continued to pat her, and she put her arms around me and clung to me tightly. Giving Angela to hold my bag, I supported the child with both my hands and started talking to the child in a soothing manner.

"there, there", I said, still patting her head," let's take you to your mama now, shall we? What is your name, dear?"

" _Yume._ Her name is Yume.", a shrill sound echoed through the passage, and I turned to face the woman who was the mother of this child. I stand rigidly, and turn pale as I recognized this woman the moment she spoke. A small, petite woman approached us, who had a round face, flushed cheeks and tired eyes, her hair the same shade as the child's. Angela stepped forward and introduced both of us.

 _Not that I needed much of an introduction, for I already knew this lady. She had been my best friend at school._

 _She is Sakura Hanazono._

I looked at her, seeing how much she had changed. That bright, bubbly girl back from school times was nowhere to be seen, but instead a worn out, sad and forlorn lady was seen, who was now trying to detach the child from me. Bowing down slightly, she asked for forgiveness for causing trouble, her Japanese accent pronounced in her words. While Angela went rambling insignificantly to Mrs. Ryder, it took all the courage in me to not to reveal the shock of her identity on the face, and not to pull her into a hug and reveal myself to her. Fighting back the tears that threatened to spill, I calmed myself down, and asked cautiously," are you, perhaps, Japanese…Mrs. Ryder?", pretending that I'm curious and meeting her for the first time.

Her eyes widened slightly, cheeks flushing as her eyes darted to my face.

"I…no…...but w-why do you think that- ", she stammered, utterly flustered.

"well, graduating from the Brooklyn University has of course lead to cultural exchanges and exposure to various cultures abroad. You see, Ms Ross is the best lawyer- ", babbled Angela, and before I could stop her from continuing her chatter, we heard the little girl cry out to her father.

A man stepped into the picture, now holding the child on his left and extended his sinewy arm around Mrs. Ryder. Dressed in black formals today, he asked in a small voice, "everything alright dear?" his wife only nodded in response, and then he turned his eyes on us, the trace of softness now evaporated from his voice, "Ms. Ross, is it? wasn't a meeting scheduled at thirty minutes past nine? Its already ten minutes past the assigned time. My time is very precious, if you don't mind noting that."

His wife only gave him a nasty glare, but didn't speak up, and took the child from him. Unperturbed by his mocking tone, I took my bag from Angela and faced him, "Mr. Ryder, I'm sorry that I'm late. Angela, please show them the way to my office, I will just collect the files from Brad and join-…"

"files are not with Brad, as the company courier would take more than a week to transfer them here, Mrs Ryder brought them with her," Angela said, while waving a hand towards the Ryders.

"I was under the impression that you were one of the best lawyers here. Shouldn't you have already started on the case by now? Or do you need these files to figure out things, like other lawyers? Aren't I throwing an enormous amount your way for your brains? What's the point if you can't even- "Mr Ryder would have continued if his wife hadn't put an arm on his shoulder to stop him.

"Very well," I said, now walking past him and stopped a moment to notice his wife, and while giving him a defying glare, I walked towards my office, while saying," it will be my pleasure if you would follow me to my office, _Mr Kuga Sakurai_."

And I did not turn back to look at the audience when I heard a pair of gasps, the sound of the foot-steps ceasing behind me.

 _Kuga Sakurai. The vocalist of the UxMishi band._

 _No…he is Mr Ryder now, isn't he?_ I thought bitterly to myself.

 _But he is the same arrogant, money-minded prick he was before._

But the case… he lost his child…and an image of grieving Sakura filled her heart with remorse and a feeling of emptiness.

 _I'll see what I can do for her_ , I promised myself as I marched determinedly into my office.

xoxoxoxoxox

* * *

 **A/N:** here's another chapter for you guys.

Please read and review.

Life's busy, but I'm going to be updating the story.

The story is going to take a twist from here-on, so stay with me, but you have been warned. ;-)

Last but not the least, I appreciate all the reviews that have been written for this story. It has been very motivating and enlightening.

A peek into the next chapter, especially in thanks for those encouraging reviews: Here you go- 

I took a left and turned into a dusty street, overshadowed by blossoming trees. Walking up the slope, I counted the number on the houses.

 _One…two…_ and I stopped in front of the next house. _Number three._

A garden overgrown with weeds welcomed him, as he passed through the rusty gates. The path leading to the main door was buried under a layer of dried leaves, telling him that nobody was living here for many days, or in his case, many years. Dilapidated as it was, the house had lost its paint and warmth.

Standing in front of _**her**_ house, brought back many memories. Lost in his thoughts for a few moments, he surveyed the house from the outside for any damage or foul play. While he was at it, his personal assistant Ron stood beside him, his hand covering the mic over the phone.

"who is it?" I asked him.

"Takumi, its Linda."

I sighed. "I'm in a meeting, let her know that I won't be free today."

"But she knows. _That you are in Japan_."

I stared Ron's sun-tanned face for a moment and then turned towards the house. _So, she knows,_ I thought, knowing clearly well that she would use that information against him at the first opportunity if I didn't receive her call.

I turned on my heels and walked towards the main door. _I don't give a damn to what she knows._

"I am still at the meeting, and am not to be disturbed. Is that clear?" I said.

"yes sir.", Ron said, slightly taken aback by the ring of authority in his boss' voice, but walked away, leaving his boss alone.

I turned the creaky door knob, my heart set on only one thought.

 _Nobody would stand between you and me, Misaki._

 _Not anymore._

* * *

With regards,

Bimba603.


	6. THE CONFLICTING SOUL

Ahem...a long chapter ahead.

enjoy!

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own maid-sama.

* * *

#6

 **THE CONFLICTING SOUL.**

 _Our time together_

 _was never enough,_

 _But we'll love again_

 _in a place_

 _where time_

 _doesn't exist._

* * *

He took a left and turned into a dusty street, overshadowed by blossoming trees. Walking up the slope, he counted the number on the houses.

 _One…two…_ and he stopped in front of the next house. _Number three._

A garden overgrown with weeds welcomed him, as he passed through the rusty gates. The path leading to the main door was buried under a layer of dried leaves, telling him that nobody was living here for many days, _or in his case_ , many years. Dilapidated as it was, the house had lost its paint and warmth.

Standing in front of _**her**_ house, brought back many memories. Lost in his thoughts for a few moments, he surveyed the house from the outside for any damage or foul play. While he was at it, his personal assistant Ron stood beside him, his hand covering the mic over the phone.

"who is it?", he asked Ron.

"Takumi, its Linda."

I sighed. "I'm in a meeting, let her know that I won't be free today."

"But she knows. _That you are in Japan_."

He stared at Ron's sun-tanned face for a moment and then turned towards the house. _So, she knows,_ he thought, knowing clearly well that she would use that information against him at the first opportunity if he didn't receive her call.

He turned on his heels and walked towards the main door. _I don't give a damn to what she knows._

"I am still at the meeting and am not to be disturbed. Is that clear?", I said.

"yes sir.", Ron said, slightly taken aback by the ring of authority in his boss' voice, but walked away, leaving his boss alone.

Usui turned the creaky door knob, his heart set on only one thought.

 _Nobody would stand between you and me, Misaki._

 _Not anymore._

…

A strong kick could have blown the door apart, _much faster in his opinion_ , but he had come only to inspect the house, and did not wish to inflict damages to the property, unnecessarily. Going through the withered pots, one by one, he finally found the spare key. After jutting the key into the rusty lock, he unlocked the door and pushed it gently, afraid that it might come off the hinges. The passageway, full of cobwebs and spiders, welcomed him along with the sight of the rotten and creaky floor-boards. With every careful step he treaded forward, vivid images of the _'once a happy family'_ danced before his eyes. Every corner he looked, he recalled memories of both, their joyous as well as their sorrowful times.

 _How Minako-san had warmly extended her motherly affection on him and always welcomed him, Suzuna-chan's handmade cookies that she would offer whenever he visited, the broken floor board he had fixed at one time, the embarrassed Misa-chan whenever I walked her home._

Their love and thoughtfulness of the other, had probably shown him what meant by _'being a family'_. If the only thing his ( _so-called_ ) family scored in comparison, was _money_. But in spite of having money, he felt like he had nothing at all.

He had a nanny to look after him, _not his mother_ , because he had money.

He had extravagant lunches at school, and _not a simple tiffin box made out of love and care_ , because he had money.

 _Kids would play with him_ , because he had money.

 _Kids would bully him,_ because he had money.

 _His brother denied his very existence_ , because he had _the_ money.

 _His grandfather_ , who wouldn't even breathe the same air he was breathing, _loathed him_ , because he would have to divide his finances between the wanted and the _unwanted grandson_.

The very same money _his family couldn't_ (or didn't) _use to save his mother_.

What had money brought him, he wondered, despite sorrow and grief that made your life look monotonous in the shades of black and grey.

Even though Sakuya-san left Misaki's family in debt, their lives had been much more colourful even in the face of an adversary.

 _In the end, he also left Misa-chan, because of money, wasn't it?_

A mouse squeaked at the sight of the intruder and ran into a hole, distracting Takumi from his thoughts. Without wasting anymore time, he took a few more steps forward and opened the sliding doors to the living room. Bathed in dust, he coughed heavily, while trying to dismiss the dust with his other hand. The living room looked similar as far as he could remember, with the only change being the addition of a framed photograph of Minako and Sakuya Ayuzawa. The cupboards no longer held the baby photos or Misaki's certificates, and the drawers too were emptied of its contents.

Apart from blackened walls and dusty utensils, nothing worthwhile was found in the kitchen, or the storeroom. He started towards the first floor, with a silent prayer on his lips whenever the step crooned and cracked under his weight. He finally made it to the first floor and exhaled a puff of dust before he entered her room.

 _Dull_ , was the first thought that came to his mind on seeing _her_ room. He stood motionless at the entrance of her room, as he faced the impact of the ferocity with which his memories of her lashed at him, like the waves hitting the rock, on a stormy day.

 _How many times had she video called him from the spot near the window?_

 _Did she text him while sitting on her desk? On her bed, maybe?_

 _Did she look at the moon while sitting on the roof below the window?_

 _Did she curl in that corner whenever she was feeling down?_

Gripping the door tightly, he noticed that he was trembling all over, it was difficult to tell whether the trembling was out of anguish or rage. Slowly, he entered the room and examined for anything that stood out that might indicate violence. _Oddly enough_ , nothing seems to be look out of place to tell anything about... _a gunshot_ …...or something like that. He felt a little relieved on this fact but started searching each and every corner rigorously. After searching through the cupboards, which had nothing but a handful of clothes, the drawers were but empty except for a few books and found nothing in between the books on the book-shelf. He checked below the floor boards and above the ceiling but was only disappointed to find it devoid of anything. He came down and checked other rooms too, but they ended with the same results like the rest of the house.

Irritated, he went outside through the back door and kicked some of the leaves from his way. That is when he noticed a black garbage bag lying on the side, covered with leaves, like the rest of the yard. _The garbage bag was probably never collected from this house_ , he thought. The garbage bag had worn out over the years, and the contents had spilled from the bag, joining the litter already present in the backyard. Amongst the mess, he picked up a sizeable chit of paper, and tried to decipher it.

It read-

… _om gone, I…house empty…where…re you…I miss…fune…_

The paper had degraded, and the words could be made out with difficulty, since the ink had faded away. He turned over, trying to read the other side. It was dated- _22_ _nd_ _July, 20XX._

… _really have to go…come back…are you happy…remember…_

Realization dawned upon him when he recognized the symbol that could be seen at the corner of the page. That symbol of the crown was there. Faded, but yes, definitely one could retrace its outline. He sat down with a loud 'thump', unaware of the thick cloud of dust and dead leaves that arose around him, as his mind raced back to the day when he last saw her.

 _I stood at the airport cafeteria, one hand clasped in Misaki's, the other busy trying to make her eat something. Teary, red eyed; she turned her face away, wiping away few tears and blinking back a few more. I kept the sandwich down, got up from my seat and hugged her tightly._

 _Kissing her on the forehead, I said," C'mon, Misa-chan. Don't be like this, eat something. For me. Please."_

 _In response I could hear only a stifling sound, as she held on to me even tighter, burying her face in my torso. If it had been one of her regular days, she would have dug up a grave for me then and there, for hugging her in place as public as the airport._

 _But it was not one of her regular days. It was not, for either of us._

" _Is there no other way? Do you really really have to go?", she asked desperately, her amber eyes pleading with me._

" _We have discussed this many a times, Misa-chan. I don't want to talk about it again, just before I depart from the airport."_

 _And we just held on, in a quiet turmoil, wrapped up in our own world, as we let the moment pass. I felt the warmth of her breath on my chest, her fragrance that I had got so used to, the texture of her hair against my cheek, that tight hold of her fingers on my back and that rapid pulse at the crook of her neck. I didn't have to try hard to remember such miniscule details, they will probably be engraved in my soul till I die. I tried to gulp down the sickening sensation that I felt at the thought of loss of this precious warmth that I held on to._

 _No, I didn't want to talk about our separation, her safety, my happiness, her happiness and all. And yes, I believed it is the right thing to do._

 _ **Her safety was my top priority**_ _._

 **Even if it meant sacrificing our happiness.**

 _Crowds passed by, staring, giggling and pointing fingers at us. But despite that, she didn't pull away, neither did I. We embraced each other, bathing in the love and comfort of the other, prolonging the moment of my departure. We were blind to our surroundings and only held each other tighter with every passing minute, not knowing when we shall be able to meet, or even talk to each other._

" We request all passengers boarding the flight 2245 to please come to gate number 4…", said an overhead announcement, causing mass mobilization and chaos among those seated for that flight.

" _that's my call Misa-chan.", I whispered slowly, although it was hard to tell who held the other more tightly._

 _After a few minutes passed, and the second announcement was being made, when I tried to pull away. "Misaki…", I started, grief swelling up in me._

 _She detached from me, pushing me gently, away from her._

" _Go." She said, tears streaming down her face. I did rather she hit me than see her like this before I leave._

" _no not like this, Misa-chan. Send me away with a smile. Please.", I begged, while caressing her face, making her look up to me._

 _She gazed at me, her eyes glazed with more tears, ready to spill at the drop of the hat. A fresh wave of agony washed over me, as I looked at that flushed face._

 **Oh, what would I not have given to see a smile on her face?**

 _ **And yet, I was the very reason that made her cry.**_

 _She came forward, putting her arms around my neck and bringing me closer to her face, she kissed me. Our lips barely touched, but we could feel our hearts mourning, as we realized my time of departure was almost due._

" _I love you. I love you so much. Take care.", she said through her strangled voice, her eyes locking into mine. Stumped, I was unable to even breathe._

" _Goodbye Takumi. I will miss you a lot, baka." She ran her fingers through my hair, like she owned every inch of it._

 _Although overwhelmed by emotion that I could almost cry, hearing her call me baka, for one last time, brought a smile to my face._

" _I will miss you too, Misa-chan. And I love you. Remember that always."_

 _I looked at her one last time and memorized her face, engraved it on my heart and turned away. Picking up my bag, I joined the crowd, that was dispersing in various directions._

 _And then I remembered._ _ **The diary.**_

 _I turned and dashed back to where Misaki was standing. Still sobbing, she was looking so lost as she stood in that frail brown coat, her eyes lifeless. I couldn't help but lift her off the ground and kissed her hard, till we both were out of our breaths. Thrusting a hard-bound book in her hand, I pulled her into a tight embrace._

" _Takumi, what is- ", she started, astonished._

" _It is a diary. I have one too.", I said, detaching myself so that I could see her face and continued, "I want you to write everything you want to tell me when I'm not around. I too shall do the same. And when we meet, we shall read them out."_

" _you Baka- "_

" _you would stand by me, wouldn't you?", I asked, my vision getting hazier by the second. She pulled me into another kiss, and I could taste salt on my lips._

" _Always", she said, her voice firm and unwavering._

 _Taking a fraction of that strength from her voice, I started to walk away, away from her, away from my peace, away from the person who was my whole universe._

" _Forgive me, Misaki. Goodbye.", I said, and turned away from her, never to see her face again, up to this day._

Tears welled up in his eyes, as only he knew how much he had missed her. How many days had he holed up and bawled in a corner of a hotel room, with his phone held up in his hand, unable to call her, unable to hear her voice, unable to forgive himself, unable to drown himself in work? How many nights had he gone wasted when he had given up all hopes of seeing her again? And yet here he was, sitting in the middle of an unused, dusty backyard, holding onto a piece of paper like it held his life. Tearing that bag open, he found more papers among torn clothes, broken photo frames and other unimportant stuff. All he could find was torn bits of paper pieces, of all kinds. Although he couldn't make out much from the worn-out, degraded papers, he still kept collecting them like a mad-man, for he believed they might lead him to somewhere. It already felt miraculous to get even one clue about her life during his absence, let alone bits and pieces that had survived degrading over the years. Among the small heap of paper, he found a firm cover of a book, which looked more like a passport which had been ripped off of its pages. He took that cover out, and his eyes widened when he recognised the ripped photo glued to the inside of the front cover.

 _Brown, wild hair, contrasting the white background; tanned skin and a pair of playful brown eyes, that had been cruelly ripped into half._

 _Yes, it was the photo of_ _ **Shintani Hinata**_ _._

* * *

 _ **Misaki's POV**_

 _Misaki's office, The Regal, New York._

I stacked, bunched and stapled another pile of paper, and set it aside. I had been doing that, for the past ten minutes, and it would probably take ten more. Maybe I took more time than required. And maybe that was because I had no assistant. Or maybe I just wanted to do it, to rile the boastful Ryder, who was sitting across me, who was now trying hard to be distracted by his child's antics. Or maybe I was just nervous and trying to buy time before I face Mrs Ryder with my current identity.

Doing that mundane work helped me clear my mind and focus on the work at present. The child _Yume,_ had started crying, at the lack of both her parent's attention, or a person to play with in this new city. Ordering a tray of biscuits for the child, I said," Ma'am, I believe Ms Yume wishes to play with you. Please feel free to use our lobby."

Mrs Ryder looked at me with her tired looking eyes before she spoke. "I would rather stay and help you out- "

"And I would rather you help me out by keeping the child from interrupting my concentration, _Ma'am._ " I said, lashing out rather icily. That was enough to irk Mr Ryder.

"Hey, You- ", he started, rage uncontained, but his wife interrupted him.

"Let go, Honey, She's right. Yume might not have adjusted to the time zone yet, and we require her to focus on her job." Settling a hand over her husband's agitated one, she said in a heavily accented English," We all need to cooperate, dear. _Please._ "

Picking her daughter up, _Mrs. Ryder_ looked at me, her eyes scanning and analysing me. Although I wasn't looking at her, I could feel the heat of her stare, and resisted the hard urge to squirm in my seat. Thankfully, Yume started crying again, and her attention shifted.

"Excuse us, then.", She said, her voice no louder than a whisper, and exited my office with a small thud, closing the door behind her. I exhaled slowly in relief and steadied myself mentally to face my restless client now that my worries of concealing my identity throughout the investigation had far lessened.

Having done with sorting the documents, I took up a notepad and faced Mr. Ryder.

"You'll have to answer a few questions regarding the case, Mr Ryder.", I said, keeping it straight and simple, skipping through all pleasantries, as I started the investigation.

"You shall have to wait till my wife returns, then."

"I'm afraid that you'll have to answer these questions unescorted. _And_ _honestly, of course."_

"I refuse.", he answered promptly.

 _What the-?_

I raised my eyebrows questioningly as I faced the stubborn man sitting across me and refusing me in my own office.

I waited patiently, but he refused to give in. _sigh._ I put my pen down and looked at him straight in the eye. "Has your wife overcome the trauma this early that she can answer my questions without getting hurt?", I said, calmly and carefully.

He fisted his palms and gave me a ferocious stare for a moment or two, he then resigned and finally gave up.

"alright, I'll answer", he said, while holding up his hands in submission," but I have one question for you. How… _how did you find out my identity_?"

 _From my brain,_ I thought to myself.

I looked at the vexed man, sitting tightly recoiled in his seat. He didn't look like that skull-and-bones popstar that performed road shows wearing metal chains and fancy shoes, singing while ramming the guitar along with loud beats and music. He looked so different, more civilized that he could have been easily mistaken to be an executive having a job at the corporate sector. I could understand well how he had felt because both of them were playing the same game of disguise and cross-identity and she sure wouldn't be sitting as calm as him if her cover had been blown off too.

"well… the company has its own resources, you see.", I said, apologetically, trying to make him believe her lie.

"Uh-uh.", he said, not fully satisfied.

"it took quite some effort and expertise to get that info.", I said, throwing some credit his way.

Taking a deep breath, he relaxed in the sofa, although his anger had not fully subsided. "What do you want to know?", he asked wearily as I picked up my pen and paper.

After asking the initial formalities of the demographic data, I asked questions to move deeper into the case. "How old was your son?", I asked.

"Fourteen days", he replied.

"Was there any complication, during pregnancy, birth or after that?"

"He was born as a premature baby at Thirty-four weeks. My wife started bleeding and she was immediately rushed to this hospital, and as soon as the doctor saw her, rushed her to the operation theatre. She was operated some time later and the baby was placed in the incubator. _Saku_ …, I mean, my wife wasn't allowed to feed the child as he was in the incubator, so he was fed via a tube. But then, suddenly…" he choked, and stopped speaking. He covered his face with his hand as I watched a father grieve silently at the loss of his child, albeit the child that had been alive for less than two weeks.

I waited patiently, as I contemplated the mourning man in front of me. From that arrogant bastard as I had known him from our high-school days, I saw how far he had come in terms of being humane. I had no doubt that it had been Sakura who changed him, she had that power in her to change people with her kindness and naivety, that it would almost look idiotic when one viewed practically. I simply gazed at him, feeling sympathetic was the utmost I could do, having painfully similar circumstances myself. But on the inside, I was consumed with rage and hatred, and mentally hanged the Walkers. _Couldn't you just see how much you are hurting other people, you dumb-assed-dirt-picking-shitheads?_

Having calmed down on his own after a few moments, Mr. Ryder continued," We were not allowed much to see him, let alone hold him, owing to their fragile health and their increased risk to catch infections from outsiders. All I could see my child was from a small glass window on the door, and see his chest move up and down with many tubes attached to that blue box. All of a sudden, the doctors and nurses are in a state of panic and rush towards the room with incubator babies. After a lot of commotion, the noise died and he…the doctor said that he was no more…no longer with us…", he couldn't continue, nor did I wish to prod him further.

I looked down into my notepad, giving both of us a moment of privacy. The interrogation had ended in a different way it had started, and now the silence stretched between them, and both of us gladly sunk in it. The lawyer in her may have not shed a tear, but the soul in her cried out for best friend and her little child. And maybe for her husband's pitiful state too. But this was not the time to give in to those emotions, that too for a friendship she had distanced herself from.

"Sir", I said, "what was the name of the doctor that treated your child?"

"hmmm…", he said, while pondering aloud, "there were three doctors and two nurses, who were in charge of the incubation unit."

"And the name of the doctor who told you the news was…?"

"Now that I think about it, my wife didn't mention that, and we were too aggrieved to bother.", he said, and asked," but why do you want to know?"

I looked up from my notes and contemplated the facts. "your wife didn't mention, means…?"

"that's right. I wasn't there in the hospital when this had occurred. I was overseas on occasion of work when I received the news of my son's death."

"when did you arrive then?", I asked, masking the perplexity from my face.

"I arrived over twelve hours after I received the call from the hospital. That was the earliest I could reach."

"the doctor told that they didn't know the reason of my son's death and requested permission for an autopsy. But of-course my wife would not accept, and nor could I- first seeing him in tubes and now those white coats wanted to rip him apart so they could find a reason to blame on. Those nitwits think they can do an autopsy on my perfectly healthy child and get away with some blasted reasoning. I won't allow it. _**Never**_.", he said, ending it on an angry note.

I glanced questioningly at his direction, but he had already risen from his seat, his whole-body trembling in rage.

"my son died due to the negligence shown by the doctors. If only… _if only_ they had paid attention to my child properly, today he might have been with us, with me, in my arms where I would have put him to sleep." He said, while gasping for breath, his face flushed with anger. "I won't stay put. I would go to the ends of the world to get justice for my son. I want to build a strong case of negligence against those doctors and nurses that treated my child and against that Walker Hospital for employing such careless healthcare workers. I will definitely sue them and make them repent and that's where you come in, Ms Ross."

I looked up at him when he announced my name in his narration, and saw him standing, those coppery eyes fiery and determined. I could sense the anger that stemmed from the love for his family, and the grief that arose from the loss of his beloved, because I had been in this situation, one too many times.

* * *

I adjusted my spectacles over my nose and pondered over a thick bunch of papers, as I took my seat on the other side of my desk while Mrs. Ryder, who was now seated in my office to aid the interrogation further. She sat uptight, and clenched and unclenched her fingers, in a state of downright nervousness. _I mentally smirked at that old habit of hers that she did whenever she was nervous._

"Mrs Ryder?", I said, a little loudly, trying to distract her from her thoughts. She looked up at me, her face looked like a child lost in his own play, reminding me of the Sakura from our high-school days. Before I thought something unnecessary, I plunged in and took advantage of her newly gained attention. _I keep forgetting that I'm a cold, shrewd lawyer, fighting a case to bring justice to my client and that I'm not that long lost friend who had ran away that she'd want to meet._

I started by summarizing the facts that I had very recently learnt from her husband up to the demise of her son, and she nodded in agreement wherever required, along with answering a few questions that I had asked alongside.

"Would you by chance remember the name of the doctor who treated your son?", I asked, rather hesitatingly.

"It was Dr _XYZ_. He was the one who was with my boy in his last moments." She replied, as though she had met him just the day before.

"are these the medicines that were given to your child?", I asked while passing a bunch of papers across to her. She glanced at it for a few seconds and answered right away.

"Yes, that's right."

I looked at her, trying with great difficulty to keep my concern from showing on my face, but it was getting strenuous by the minute. _Just how much had she endured_ , I wondered. _She remembers the whole incident like it had happened yesterday._ I realised I was close to losing my own calm temperament when all I wanted was to do was scream in anguish, for I could no longer bear the agony of meeting a soul from my past, nor could I hold her hand and lend her a shoulder to cry upon. I wished to be freed of this… _torment_. Maybe there was a way. _A way to wiggle out of this_. I wouldn't know unless I try.

"your husband seems to think that your child died due to negligence on the part of the doctor. I know this might not seem lawful to you or your husband, but would you like me to talk it out to the other party and settle it cleanly, Mrs Ryder?"

"What do you mean, Ms Ross?", she asked, her voice sharp and her nose pointed in the air.

"It is called out-of-the-court-settlement. The doctors will compensate- "

"if it was the compensation that I had craved for, I wouldn't have travelled halfway around the world to hire your services, Ms Ross."

 _Of course, not that I hadn't already known the answer to that. I knew it was downright selfish of me to ask that of her, just because I was hurting. And obviously, she didn't know that._

"Ah, is that so.", I said nonchalantly," I see. If that's the case, then I shall take it upon my honour to see that you get justice legally."

An awkward silence ensued, as the two friends of the past fought a battle mentally knowingly or unknowingly, a battle between the emotionless lawyer and a grieving mother.

But the lawyer breached the silence, dismissing her client to escape the vexing stares of her former friend, before she realises something is… _strange_. I turned my back on her, not sure if I would be able to keep my mask on any longer, and while pretending to arrange files on my table, I decided to say goodbye.

"Thank you for your time and the documents, Mrs Ryder. I'll keep you updated as I further progress on our case."

Time ticked by and I didn't hear the ruffling sound of getting off the sofa, or the door shutting. Yet, I didn't have the courage to turn around and ask if she wanted to tell me something else about the case. But I didn't have to wait long to know what she was up to.

"you probably don't understand.", she said, her voice, calm and collected.

I paused my work for a moment but continued anyway. But I didn't turn around to face her. _Not yet_.

"the longest I held him, after he was born, was when he was cold and no longer breathing. He was so little, so beautiful, that I couldn't let him go and held him close to my heart. He wouldn't cry, he wouldn't curl his tiny fingers around mine, he wouldn't open his eyes to see his mama. I couldn't bear to see my child being taken away for an autopsy, he looked like he was in peace and tranquil now that he was finally freed of those tubes and machines that kept him alive. He was there inside me, in front of me, and…and the next moment he is gone. _Just like that_."

Her voice broke, and I could hear that. _My heart broke too, but there was no-one to hear._

"You might think my husband is a rude, uncaring guy, Ms Ross", she sobbed," among the countless people who also think of him in a similar way. Even my best friend used to think so. But I have never seen my husband act the way he acted today."

"even when he arrived that day, he had found me holding our dead baby, and I had been in the same position for god knows how many hours, but he just comforted me, he did not even shed a single tear. He just consoled me when I could no longer even cry over the loss of our baby, and arranged a funeral, throwing away the consent papers for an autopsy. I simply thought that probably I was the only one who suffered a loss, since he was always on the run even when I was pregnant, I thought I had a bonding with the child for a longer time than him. _But I was wrong_. He was holding his emotions back, all for me and I mistook his support for his insensitivity. If my best friend were here, I'm sure she too would have changed her thoughts about my husband, after seeing him broken and dismantled, silently weeping outside this room."

I turned sharply, out of reflex; and clutched the edges of the table to steady myself.

She got up to leave and turned to face me before she just exited. "the reason why I'm telling you this is that, after seeing my husband in this state, you have been an eye opener to me. And because of that I am going to trust you Ms Ross. I believe you are something more than that meets my eye. I want you to show no mercy at all, Ms Ross, while you are going up against them. I have a long score to settle with those Walkers."

"After all they took away _two most precious people_ from me."

While I stood wide-eyed and shell shocked, she had turned her back on me as I saw her frail form exit my office. The door closed with a small _'thud'_ behind her, while she opened a new door for my life to take on.

 _Little did she know that this new path will lead to impossibly dangerous probabilities._

* * *

At the sound of the bell chimes, a pretty lady dressed neatly in a maid's apparel, comes to stand at the reception, does an exquisite bow from her waist and welcomes the customer by saying in perfect Japanese, "welcome back, Master."

But when she raises her head, her smile fades as she no longer feels like welcoming the new, or rather… _a very old customer._ She stood rooted in her spot, contemplating what would be the best course of action. _Throwing him out_ , was the only logical answer she could come up with; but of course, there were customers watching, and he was attracting too much attention to be dismissed off in an unsightly manner. She knew he hadn't come to be rejected of an audience he sought after, and she would have to let him have his way. She marches towards him, not at all intimidated by his presence or those bulky bodyguards behind him, and in spite of the obvious height difference, she has a strong urge to deliver a punch on his gut, or that spiteful face. But instead, she jabs a finger in his direction "only you", the body-guards behind him looking way too out of the place, enough to scare shit out of her customers. She just says, "follow me" and walks away to disappear into the kitchen, although she wishes to kick him out instead of inviting him in.

She enters the kitchen and waits for him to appear, not that he required any guidance to the place where he had once worked. She voices out her manager, _Satsuki-san,_ a lady in her late thirties to meet out an unwelcomed guest. She does not hide her distaste for the young man, who had now entered the kitchen's threshold, nor does he seem to be perturbed by it. The beckoned manager descends downstairs, from her make-shift office and is pleasantly shocked to see the handsome blonde, once again in the kitchen of her humbled _Maid-Latte._ Gone were the signs of playfulness that once danced in his eyes, she observed, though still handsome, he gave off vibes of anxiousness with worry etched in his flawless features.

"my, my", she exclaimed, "the kitchen is too small to hold so many people. Why don't you come upstairs, _Takumi-kun_?" she turned to proceed upstairs to guide her guest but stopped and turned around.

"Why don't you also join us Erika-san?"

The maid who was already on the verge of exiting the kitchen to resume her duties turned around and met those pale green eyes, remembering what a crazy fan-girl she and her colleagues had been of those eyes back then. _'He is nothing but a perverted alien from planet pheromones',_ _ **she**_ _would caution all of us. 'What's that?', and we all used to start laughing._ But gone were those days of fun and frolic. Now those eyes only reminded her of deep resentment and a sense of longing to return back to those days.

 _Holding a grudge against this man is futile._

"My time is too precious to be wasted on run away mutts. I'm sure you can see the café is busy." She spitted out bitterly, before exiting the kitchen.

"Aren't she a hardworking employee now, ho-ho-ho.", the manager smiled meekly to herself and proceeded to guide her guest upstairs.

"Don't mind that girl. I'm sure she didn't mean to be rude.", Satsuki-san apologised.

"it is fine. I'm used to it, anyways. Nothing new there."

She clicked her tongue in disagreement. _Poor boy,_ she thought to herself. When they reached upstairs she asked him to be seated, while pulling out a chair for herself.

"the place hasn't changed much, Manager-san.", he said, as he humbly lowered himself on a chair.

The place was still as fancy and topsy-turvy as it could have been, he noticed as he sat across a small, polished circular table, overflowing with papers, posters and printouts. The said Manager-san, looked smaller among the heaps of paper in front of her, and seemed to be in good health. She had greyed a few hairs, and now wore circular spectacles that framed her bony face, but other than that, nothing had changed.

"one of the few things that didn't change in the yester-years, I believe.", she replied back smilingly.

Both sat facing each other, reminiscing many memories in quiet. But time is precious to be wasted on those things that would not lead him to his beloved.

"how is Misaki-chan doing, Takumi-kun?" she asked expectantly, while cupping her warm hands over his cold ones.

As soon as she asked, his head whipped up at her and she could see his gaze hardening. He looked too forlorn, too… _hurt_ , to answer her question.

Gone was that boy who had spent a few years of his youth at her maid café but was replaced by a man she could feel chills from, a man who looked like he bore burdens that were far too much for a person as young as him.

Moments passed as she waited for him to reply but that ominous silence was too heavy for her to bear.

Tears welled up in her eyes, she asked," Did… _did something happen to her? She is alright, isn't she, Takumi-kun?_ Please tell me that she is.", she pleaded while grabbing his hands.

He stared at her but had to look away. He couldn't answer her questions and Satsuki-san couldn't comprehend the silence she received as her reply.

 _Does that mean that Misaki was no longer…?_ Her fingers trembled as she withdrew her hand from over his.

"Satsuki-san- ", he started but was cut off she raised her hand to silence him.

 _She felt that her fragile heart wouldn't be able to bear whatever he was about to say._

"I know you are fully aware of the schedule of Maid-latte, Takumi-kun. If you have barged into the café while knowing this, it must mean that you are very busy to find time to contact us after our business hours. But, I cannot entertain you at the moment. I believe there is much to talk and know, there is a lot of catching up I intend to do. But I insist, that you must wait for some time, and I shall promise you to close the café earlier than the usual closing time. Now, _dear boy_ , please excuse me."

She collected all the handouts lying on the table and put them away hurriedly. At the sound of the bell chimes, she took an apron and tied it around her waist and adjusted her skirt. She looked at him once more. Dressed in a cream-coloured suit tailored to show off his physique, he looked more like a runway model in his tousled hair, sitting in the middle of the dining hall of a fancy maid-café, looking worlds apart from what she remembered him as. Playful, dressed in uniform with the shirt tucked out and tie loosened, he would surprise her with his skills in cooking, _yes, that was the Takumi-kun she knew_.

 _All that rich for ought not_ , she thought painfully.

 _He might look rich, but he had been robbed._

 _Robbed of his happiness; and its only source._

That was the only conclusion she could come to, in their short meeting. The bell chimed once again, and the frantic manager remembered that she was short on staff, _just like old times,_ and she hurried away to tend to her customers.

Half an hour later, when the manager went to look for him, she found a folded note on the table. Written in a neat handwriting, it read-

 _Dear Satsuki-san,_

 _I hope you will pardon my absence, as I had to leave to attend an urgent business. But I will be back by eight pm. If possible, I would like to talk to Erika-san too._

 _Please make yourself available by then._

 _T._

* * *

 **A/N:** dear readers, thank you for your support. And to my dearest reviewers, I was really happy to read your reviews and the thoughts you willingly shared with me. I hope this chapter was up to your expectations. Your reviews were really a big motivation factor that made me come back to work on this story and publish another chapter. Thank you for your support and I sincerely request to please continue supporting me till the end of this story.

Dear guest reviewers, I know you were in a hurry to drop in a review and that you loved my story so much that you couldn't wait to login, but hey!... the story is not running anywhere, so login and review, if you don't mind. And if you haven't created an account, doing so will only help you keep a record of your fav stories!

To all my reviewers who took out a few moments to fill in a review, I'm deeply gratified that my hard work has appealed to you, a special mention- _Minniemiss 123,_ whose long reviews make me really happy.

Ok, with this, I end my sloppy thank you.

Until next time guys, happy reading.

 _ **Bimba**_.


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